


To Be A Hero

by cosette141



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 15:12:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17388725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosette141/pseuds/cosette141
Summary: Danny has always known the consequences should he be captured by the Guys In White, but now Tucker is going to learn firsthand just what the stakes are for his superhero friend and what it really means to be a hero. (not slash) hurt/comfort





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> This story has been sitting on my computer half-finished for almost a year now. I'm suddenly excited about it again so it's time to finish writing it once and for all! :) It will include all the characters from the show (Danny's family, sam, etc) not just Tucker, but I am centering it a little more around Danny's friendship with Tucker.
> 
> I have the next chapter written but not edited, so it shouldn't take too long to get that up, but the rest might take some time. :D
> 
> Okay, hope you enjoy! :)
> 
> ~cosette141

Danny wiped cold sweat from his brow, and leaned against the building behind him. He pressed his hands on his knees, panting as he floated in mid-air around the tenth story of an apartment complex. Moonlight cast his snow-white hair in a sheen glow, and glinted off the Fenton thermos in his hand. He lifted his head, and asked, between gasps, "Was that… the last… one?"

The Fenton Phones crackled in his ear, and Tucker pulled out his PDA, the light glinting in the darkness where he and Sam stood on the street below. "Check, and check." He yawned audibly and canted his head back toward where Danny hovered. "Finally."

"Great," muttered Sam, muffling her own yawn with her hand. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the pavement. "Now, can we please go to bed?"

"Ghost fighting first, sleep later, Sam." tsked Tucker. "You know the—" He made an  _oof_  sound over the headsets and Danny was pretty sure he saw Sam land her elbow into his gut. "Okay, sleep it is." They both picked up their scooters from the sidewalk.

Danny sighed in his own exhausted relief and pushed off the building to fly home. "Thank god. I thought this night would never—"

Danny's words were cut harshly off as something hard and sharp struck him in the stomach. It sliced across his skin, cutting the suit and into his abdomen. He cried out, the force of the hit driving him backward into the apartment building, shattering a window.

"Danny!"

Dazedly, Danny heard his friends shouting at him through the Phones, but his head pounded far too much to hear anything through the muddled pain. He raised a hand to his head, groaning. He barely had time to realize he was falling toward the pavement.

-.-.-.

"Danny!"

Tucker and Sam ducked as the broken glass from the window Danny slammed into showered down on them. Tucker felt Sam grab his jacket sleeve and yank him out of the downpour.

"Danny," whispered Sam breathlessly, eyes glued to the falling figure of their best friend. Tucker picked himself off the ground and ran.

He caught Danny just in time, nearly bridal-style, but Danny's altitude forced his weight into Tucker and they both slammed into the pavement.

Tucker cringed, his head nearly whiplashing on the ground. His back took most of the fall. He felt Danny's dead weight on his chest, pinning him down. Tucker lifted his head off the ground, ignoring that his hat didn't follow. Danny's head rested on his chest, but his eyes weren't open. He was out cold.

"Danny?" asked Tucker frantically, pressing a finger into Danny's forehead. "Dude? You… you okay?"

Danny didn't respond.

Tucker heard Sam's pounding footsteps behind him at the same moment he suddenly felt wet. He glanced down, realizing a green ooze was leaking over himself and the pavement.

Ectoplasm.

His heart shot into a frenzy. Danny was bleeding. A lot. "Danny!" he almost shouted. He grabbed his friend's shoulder and shook it, hard. "Dude, wake up!"

"Is he okay?" came Sam's panicked voice. She reaches out and started to carefully pull Danny off of Tucker's chest. Danny's weight was freezing, and warm air quickly filled its place as Sam transferred him to the ground. The moment she did, white light encased Danny's waist, changing Phantom back to Fenton.

He still didn't stir.

"Oh my god," she breathed, eyes drawn to the growing pool of dark blood. But even in the darkness, they could tell the green ectoplasm was beginning to turn crimson.

Tucker pulled himself onto his knees, ignoring the fact that he was practically covered head to toe in Danny's blood. He looked at his friend, now noticing the sizable gash from where his shirt exposed it; the cut was nasty, still bleeding now-red blood onto the pavement. Tucker's heart cantered. "He's… he's okay." He looked panicked at Sam. "He's okay, right?"

Sam responded by slapping Danny on the face. "Danny!"

Danny flinched.

Both Tucker and Sam released a breath as his eyes flickered open. He coughed lightly, groggily lifting his head. His hand sluggishly found his side and he winced, looking down at it. His eyes widened at the blood. "Ugh… wha' hit me?"

Trying to ignore the slur in his words, Tucker swallowed hard. "I… I don't know."

"Yeah," muttered Sam, briefly looking toward the sky. "What the hell  _did_  hit you?"

Danny lifted a hand and gingerly touched the wound. The moment his fingers made contact, he gasped and tore them away.

"Crap," muttered Sam.

"What?" asked Tucker, a slight whine entering his voice.

"Danny's not in ghost form," she said, looking at him. "He heals faster in ghost form."

"Still heal pretty fast as a human," said Danny sleepily. He shut his eyes and his head slowly titled toward the ground.

"No!" Sam slapped his cheek again and he snapped his eyes open. "No sleeping, Danny!"

Danny lazily rolled his eyes at her. "Bossy."

"Look, we have to get this taken care of." said Sam, turning to Tucker. "My house is further than FentonWorks. Jazz has a first aid kit in her room—we'll have to wake her up."

Danny groaned. "No, guys—I'll… I'll heal fine, okay? If we tell Jazz she's just gonna… gonna fuss all over me…"

"Danny, you sound drunk," snapped Sam. "You are  _not_  fine."

"I'm with your girlfriend on this one, dude," added Tucker. He ignored the "I'm not his/She's not my girlfriend" responses from his friends and risked another look down at the blood. "Um, dude, can you walk?"

Danny bit his lip, then tried pushing himself off the ground. He yelped and fell back to the pavement. "That's a no," he said, barely audibly.

Tucker and Sam helped pull Danny slowly and carefully to his feet, sharing his weight between them. They started their slow walk toward FentonWorks. Danny cringed with every step, dragging his feet. Too bad he's not in ghost form, thought Tucker. He only weighs like forty pounds as a ghost.

Danny's head hung low over his chest, his breathing loud and labored. "Agh—damn, that… that stings—" His face was pinched and white.

"We're almost there, dude," said Tucker quickly. They made it to the door, and Sam left Danny hanging onto Tucker as she slipped her personal FentonWorks key—not that she was given a personal key—into the lock and opened the door. She rushed back to her two best friends and grabbed her half of Danny's weight.

"Try not to bleed all over your carpet," said Tucker, attempting to lighten the mood.

"I'll keep… that in mind," was Danny's forced reply.

Their journey across the living room and up the stairs—oh, god, the stairs—was painfully slow. By the time they reached Jazz's bedroom door, Tucker's shoulders were burning by how much Danny was leaning on him.

Sam opened Jazz's door and Tucker dragged Danny inside. He wound an arm around Danny's torso, holding him as upright as he could manage without Sam. He watched as the goth shook Jazz awake.

"Jazz," she hissed to the sleeping redhead.

"No—a B?" mumbled Jazz sleepily. "But I  _studied_ —"

"Jazz!"

Jazz shot upright, whipping her head toward Sam and clutching her blanket close to her chest. "Wha—Sam?" She rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?"

"Three a.m.," said Sam quickly. "Look, we need to know where you keep that extensive first aid kit."

Jazz's eyes immediately sharpened. "Why? What's wrong? Where's Danny?"

"'M right here, Jazz," mumbled Danny, in a much less sober voice than he had a minute ago. Tucker shook him slightly, making him blink his eyes open wider.

"Danny!" she hissed. Jazz jumped out of bed and rushed over to him, turning on a dim lamp with a click. "What—oh my god, Danny, what happened to you?!"

"Shh!" chided Sam. "We don't need your parents busting in here!"

Jazz ignored her, staring at the now-red stains on Danny's t-shirt. Tucker led Danny to Jazz's bed and relieved his burning arm from its duty. Danny fell back on the comforter with a cringe.

"'S not that bad, guys," whispered Danny to the room. "I heal fast."

"Not in human form, you don't!" snapped Sam. Her face was whiter than normal, and Tucker could tell she was shaking.

"Still faster than normal," Danny tried.

Jazz pulled a big, white first aid box out from underneath her bed, unwinding a roll of gauze. "I told you to tell me when you were going out patrolling, Danny!"

"I was with Sam and Tucker," whined Danny vaguely, cringing as Jazz lifted his shirt away from his wound. The cut was jagged and still bleeding fresh blood. Tucker resisted the urge to gag.

"Yeah?" said Jazz. "And look at what happened to you!"

"I don't even  _know_  what happened to me," said Danny, then gasped as Jazz dabbed antiseptic over the cut. Danny's hand fisted in the comforter.

"It was weird," said Tucker distantly. "Something hit him. But I have no idea what it was or where it came from."

"Holy crap, Tuck!" said Sam suddenly. She lifted the corner of the sleeve of his shirt. He looked down and realized he was still drenched in Danny's ectoplasm, nearly head to toe. Sam's fingers seemed to find the only patch of his shirt that wasn't dripping in glowing green.

"Aw, man!" whined Tucker, pulling off his hat, just now remembering how much his clothes have been destroyed. His hat seemed mostly untouched by the ghost-blood, and he heaved a sigh of relief and placed it back on his head. He glanced down at his arms, his face turning nearly a matching shade of green."Ugh, it's gonna take, like, six showers to get this stuff out…"

"Sorry, Tuck," said Danny softly, visibly trying to keep his eyes open.

"Well," said Jazz, wrapping the gauze around Danny's torso. "The bleeding seems to be slowing down."

"Told you," said Danny quietly. His eyes drooped. "C'n we go to sleep now?"

Jazz's face softened at the little-boy quality in his face. "Sure, little brother. But you have to let me take a look at that in the morning."

Tucker and Sam walked Danny back to his bedroom; he was still too exhausted to phase through the wall. He dropped on his bed gracelessly, releasing a gasp of pain.

Sam's hand shot for his shoulder. "Danny, are you sure you're okay?"

Danny groaned, cracking one eye open, meeting Sam's. Tucker shifted his weight from foot to foot, feeling—again—like the the third wheel of his two best friends. He fought the urge to whistle casually when Danny said, "You don't have to worry so much. I'll be fine, Sam."

Sam's hand lingered on his shoulder for a moment more, then she took it back and she and Tucker turned to go. His voice hoarse and quiet, Danny said, "Thanks, guys."

Tucker and Sam shared a knowing look. Tucker shrugged, grabbing Danny's door to pull it shut. Meaning every word, Tucker said, "What are friends for, dude?"

* * *

"Damn it, he's gone."

Agent K glared at the tracker in his hands, monitoring the heat signatures below him. They'd been locking into Phantom's freezing signature moments ago. Their weapon had hit him head on, then he disappeared. K looked down over where he hovered above the street, only seeing a couple of teenagers up way past their bedtime. He turned toward his partner. "Did you get it?"

Agent O held out a hand, waiting for the small silver disc to land in his palm. Moonlight glinted off the metal as they floated in their sleek, Guys In White brand hovercrafts. Agent O looked down at the disc. Its blades were slick with fresh ectoplasm. He held it up in the moonlight, grinning sickly at Agent K.

"Oh," he said. "I got it." He looked down after where Phantom disappeared into the shadows of the alley. "That ghost kid might have disappeared tonight, but by tomorrow, he's ours."


	2. Chapter 2

Sam stared at the door.

It stood open, and the dull, tan lockers of the school hallway held her gaze. She drummed her black nails on her desk, nervously bouncing her knee.

She sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that day and checked her watch. School had started over three hours ago, and yet the seat next to her was still empty.

Danny was still home, then.

Sam dropped her face into her hands. Mr. Lancer was droning on about some poem that she couldn't care less about. Her eyes drifted to Danny's empty chair. _I told him that wound was worse than he thought_ , she thought irritably. But Jazz knew about it; she most likely hasn't let him out of her sight.

With that knowledge in mind, Sam huffed out another breath and straightened in her chair, feeling a bit better. She felt eyes on her and turned to see Tucker on her other side, giving her a quick, reassuring grin.

Lancer was halfway through his next poem when there was a knock at the open door. Heads turned toward the newcomer, and Sam's heart jumped in her throat.

It was the Guys In White.

She and Tucker shared a startled glance. _What the hell are these losers doing here?_ thought Sam nervously. Her eyes reflexively darted toward Danny's desk, but she relaxed almost instantly; Danny wasn't here. He was safe at home.

 _Phew_.

Tucker must have made the same conclusion, for he, too, leaned comfortably back in his seat.

"Can I help you gentlemen with something?" asked Lancer, closing the book of the poetry, holding the page he was on with his thumb.

The two men—Agents O and K, Sam remembered—filed into the room and came to stand at the front, flanking Lancer. The dark skinned agent, O, stared emotionlessly at the class. Dark sunglasses hid his eyes. "Actually, yes." They nodded to the door, and the class turned to see another nameless agent enter the room and shut the door. "We apologize for the interruption," said O, "but we have reason to believe a fugitive is hiding in this classroom."

Lancer spluttered at the same time chatter broke out in whispers among the students. " _Of Mice and Men_ , a _fugitive_?"

"Yes," K nodded. "Danny Phantom."

Sam's heart dropped to her boots. Tucker nearly fell out of his chair. More chatter broke out among the class, everyone suddenly looking for the infamous ghost boy.

"Woah, really?" asked Dash in awe. "He's here? Sweet!"

"No, kid," said O flatly. "It is not _sweet_. This entity has wreaked havoc over this town for years." He pulled out two objects from his pocket. A small, square box and a circular, metal disc, stained green.

Sam's breath hitched.

That was the disc that hit Danny last night.

 _Crap_.

"Sam," hissed Tucker almost inaudibly. "Is that—"

"Yep," she said through clenched teeth. _Thank god he's home, thank god he's home…_

"We've managed to get a sample of Phantom's ectoplasm," O was saying, "and were able to trace it to this classroom."

"I assure you there are no ghosts in my classroom," said Lancer, though by the way his voice wavered and his gaze flitted around like someone paranoid of an invisible mosquito in the air, he didn't seem sure enough to assure anyone of anything.

"Maybe not visibly," K said. "We've traced his ecto-signature here."

 _Hah_ , thought Sam. _Good luck finding him here, losers._

O fiddled with the box for a moment, then it started faintly beeping. He started walking slowly through the aisles, up the rows. The beeping gradually grew faster as he approached the back, where she and Tucker were sitting. She swallowed hard, leaning reflexively back in her seat. O stepped closer. The box beeped faster. He turned the box to his right. The beeping turned into one long whine. O grinned.

The box was pointing at _Tucker_.

"It's _Foley_?" said Dash incredulously. "Phantom is hiding inside _Foley_?!"

Tucker's eyes were wide behind his glasses. Sam dropped the pen she had been holding.

 _What_?!

"I—I'm not—" stammered Tucker, looking wildly at Sam and all the eyes on him. "I'm not a ghost!"

"Of course you aren't," said O, pocketing the box. "You're human. There's only a ghost inside of you."

"But—but I'm not-!" said Tucker adamantly. "There's nothing inside of me! Your box must be broken!"

"And that's exactly what Phantom would want us to think," said K, pulling metal handcuffs from his pocket. He stalked down the aisle and yanked Tucker up by the arm.

"Ow!" whined Tucker, struggling against the bulky man.

"Let him go!" Sam jumped out of her own seat.

"Now, wait a moment!" Lancer quickly positioned himself between Sam and Agent O. He turned to O. "This is a child, a _minor_. I cannot allow you to take my student—"

"We can and we will," said K, thrusting a printed sheet of paper in front of Lancer's face. "It's for his own good; we need to knock that ghost out of him." K snapped on the handcuffs to Tucker's wrists. He squirmed in the man's grip.

"This isn't legal!" shouted Sam, lunging toward O, but Lancer grabbed her by the shoulders and held her back.

"Ms. Manson, they have the authority to treat your friend—"

" _But he's not hiding Phantom_!" she practically shrieked.

"If he's not hiding the ghost," said K, "then why does he have Phantom's ecto-signature reeking off of him as if he bathed in it?"

Sam froze.

The blood.

_Danny's blood._

Tucker had been covered in Danny's ectoplasm; he must not have been able to get it all off.

She and Tucker locked eyes; the recognition seemed to hit them both simultaneously.

"We need to get him contained," said K, yanking Tucker away from his desk.

"Sam!" yelled Tucker, digging his heels into the tile floor.

"Tucker!" Sam struggled in Lancer's surprisingly strong grip.

"Ms. Manson, _please_!" scolded Lancer. "Those government agents are trying to help your friend! Mr. Foley is going to be just fine."Agent K yanked harder, dragging Tucker with him into the hallway. The door swung shut behind the agents. Sam stopped fighting, chest heaving. There was no way she was going to single handedly take down all of those agents to save Tucker. And no way they were going to listen to reason until they were convinced—through whatever awful ideas they had about de-overshadowing humans—that Phantom really wasn't inside Tucker.

There was no telling what kind of danger he was in.

The bell rang. Still stunned, the students awkwardly packed up their things to move on to the next class. Lancer let go of Sam's shoulders. "Now, Ms. Man—" he began, but the moment he let her go, she was gone.

* * *

Danny groaned, his abdomen burning in pain as he reached across the table for the cereal.

He'd been woken up by Jazz early in the morning, and quickly realized that the simple act of sitting up and breathing were practically agony. Jazz told him to stay in bed and sleep it off, give himself more time to heal and she would take the day off as well to look after him. To the latter, Danny profusely tried to convince her it was unnecessary, but he hadn't been able to wear her down.

Finally reaching the cereal box, Danny grunted, sliding it toward himself. He dumped flakes of it into his waiting bowl. _Man_ , he thought irritably, as his abdomen stung. _Maybe Sam was right_. _I should have tried harder to stay in ghost form yesterday so I could heal faster._

But even Danny knew that he should be healing faster than this, human or not. He looked down at his t-shirt, and lifted it to stare at the gauze Jazz had wrapped around him this morning. It shouldn't still be this bad. But the only other times he's been given an injury that lasted this long was when he cut himself with one of his parents' weapons. It had some sort of addition that somehow blocked his super-healing. Maybe whatever hit him did something similar.

"You okay, Danny?"

Danny dropped his shirt and looked up. Jazz slipped into the seat across from him at the table. Danny shoveled a spoonful of cereal into his mouth and chewed carefully. "Fine." He took another bite. "You don't have to be here, Jazz."

Danny saw the hurt flit over her face.

"Not that I don't want you here," he said quickly. "I just… don't want to be a burden, that's all."

"Danny," said Jazz lightly, in a very similar tone to his mother. It was scary how much she had taken after Maddie. "Stop it. You know that's not true."

Danny nodded glumly, taking another bite of the cereal. "Where are Mom and Dad?"

Jazz shrugged. "I don't know. They both went somewhere in a hurry this morning, weapons blaring." Jazz reached for the newspaper on the table and flipped to a page. "Probably having to do with a ghost.

 _Ghost_? thought Danny with piqued interest, but immediately deflated. He was in no shape to go take care of even the Box Ghost right now. Besides, his ghost sense didn't go off; his parents were probably chasing another false alarm.

Danny ate the rest of the cereal in silence, listening to the crinkling of pages Jazz turned in the newspaper. That is, until someone started knocking incessantly at the door.

"I'll get it," said Jazz, placing the paper back to the table.

As she got up to get the door, Danny slowly stood and brought his bowl to the sink to rinse it. He heard Jazz open the door, and a familiar voice shout his name.

" _Danny_!"

Danny turned. "Sam?"

Sam tore through the door, nearly knocking Jazz over. She flew into the kitchen, eyes wide with—Danny's heart stuttered. Was that fear?

"They have Tucker!" she said breathlessly, her chest heaving.

Danny's eyebrows soared, something dark settling into his eyes. His voice sharpened. "Who has Tucker?"

"The Guys In White." she said, grasping the kitchen chair, her knuckles white.

Danny's jaw dropped. "Wait— _what_?"

"Why would they take Tucker?" asked Jazz, rushing back into the kitchen.

"That disc that hit you last night was an invention of theirs," explained Sam in a rush, her hand gesturing toward Danny's abdomen. "They just wanted a sample of your blood."

"My _blood_?" echoed Danny. He leaned back into the counter behind him. The Guys In White had been hunting him for years. They finally got the sample they'd wanted—the puzzle piece they'd been looking for—to track him down. But… "What does Tucker have to do with that?"

"Last _night_ , Danny!" said Sam, running a nervous hand through her hair. "You were hit and then you fell and when Tucker caught you—"

Danny groaned into his hand. "He got drenched in my blood." Danny's heart jumped into his throat. Of course Tucker would be radiating his ecto-signature. _Crud_. "Not good, this is so not good…"

"Hang on!" said Jazz, throwing her hands up between them in what she seemed to hope was a placating gesture. "We… we don't need to freak out," she said, though her voice definitely screamed _let's freak out_. "Tucker isn't Danny, so they're just going to realize he's human and let him go."

"But that's just it!" exclaimed Sam, throwing her hands up. "They think Tucker's being _overshadowed_ by Danny Phantom!"

Danny groaned again. _Double crud._ "Those morons aren't going to stop until they…" He swallowed hard. He's had enough Guys In White induced nightmares to imagine what they might do to Tucker to drag a ghost out of him.

"I know," said Sam, obviously already having made the same assumption he had. "What are we going to do?"

Danny's eyes flashed. "We're going to save him; that's what we're going to do." He pushed away from the cabinets but his abdomen flared up with pain. He stumbled with a groan, barely catching himself on the kitchen table for support.

Jazz grabbed him before he could fall, pushing him gently into the chair. "No, you're not, Danny! You can hardly walk!"

"Well, I'm not gonna walk, am I?" he countered, eyes flashing green.

"Danny, she's right!" said Sam firmly. "First of all, I'm not letting you fly straight into a facility full of people who want to _destroy you_!"

"Well, if we don't bust in there, they're going to destroy _Tucker_!"

"Hang on a second!" yelled Jazz, putting firm hands on her little brother's shoulders. The three teenagers stewed in the tense silence. Jazz sighed. "Where is the facility we think they took Tucker to?"

"The Guys In White have a lab just outside of Amity Park," said Danny dully. "It's about a twenty minute drive out of town. They built it last year sometime when they started catching wind of me and the other ghosts." He eyed her suspiciously. "Why?"

"Look, Danny," she said, crossing her arms. "Sam and I aren't letting you get anywhere near that place. We're just going to have to go rescue Tucker ourselves."

"That's a high-level secure building that I doubt even _Valerie_ could break into!" said Danny. "Jazz—"

"I'm in." said Sam matter-of-factly.

Danny glared at her. "Sam—"

"Kids!"

Danny, Jazz and Sam whipped around. Maddie and Jack Fenton were standing in the doorway to the kitchen. All three teenagers stiffened, wondering how much they had heard.

"Danny-boy!" bellowed Jack. "What are you doing home?"

So, they didn't hear anything.

 _Phew_.

"Sweetie," said Maddie, giving Jazz a look, "what are you and Danny doing home from school?"

"They must have heard the news and came rushing home to share in our victory!" said Jack.

"Victory?" asked Jazz uncertainly.

"They've cornered that scum-sucking ghost kid, Danny Phantom!" exclaimed Jack, pumping a fist through the air. "Man, I want to see them knock it out of that friend of yours."

"Jack!" scolded Maddie.

"Tucker isn't being overshadowed!" said Sam exasperatedly.

"Oh, Sam," said Maddie, placing her ectogun on the table and taking her mask down from her face. "We designed the Fenton Frisbee to strike a ghost and save its ectoplasm so the GIW could use it for their trackers. It's one-hundred percent foolproof and unfortunately they traced Phantom's exact signature to Tucker."

Maddie reached out a hand to Sam's shoulder. "He'll be just fine! Those agents are very good!"

Sam shrugged off Maddie's hand. "No, he—"

Jazz elbowed her in the gut. They shared a look. Sam cleared her throat, and reluctantly said, "Oh, Mrs. Fenton, you are probably right. I'm so glad your disc thingie caught that evil ghost once and for all."

"That's the spirit, kiddo!" said Jack, patting Sam harshly on the back, nearly sending her flying into the kitchen table.

"Uh," said Jazz, eyes flitting to the door. "Sam and I really need to, uh, get back to… celebrating."

"Yeah," growled Danny. " _We_ do."

Jazz quickly slipped back next to Danny, briefly whispering to him, "I'm sorry for this, little brother, but it's for your own good." She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Uh, no, Danny can't come! He's—uh—sick."

Danny clenched his teeth. _Thanks a lot, Jazz_. "I am not—" But he didn't get far because Jazz gave him a quick shove and he slipped out of the chair to the floor, his wound stinging painfully. He couldn't hold in a groan of pain as he clutched his stomach.

"Danny!"

Maddie was beside him in seconds. As the pain subsided, Danny glanced up to see Sam and Jazz tiptoeing to the door, both with incredibly guilty expressions on their faces. Sam gave him an apologetic smile before they slipped through the doorway.

"Mom, I'm fine—" he tried, but Maddie didn't let him go.

"Danny, I want you to go straight upstairs, Mister. You can stay there until your tummy feels better."

" _Mom_ —" Danny ground out through his teeth.

"Don't worry, sweetie!" she gushed. "I won't let you out of my sight!"

Danny glared at the door, dropping his head in defeat.

 _Triple crud_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> Here's chapter 3! I'm just going to say this now- I don't intend on raising the rating above T, I'm not interested in reading or writing anything really disturbing or gross, so I will make sure that whatever happens with the GIW isn't going to be over the top or anything like that. That isn't to say people won't get hurt though lol. Just to give a heads up for that :D
> 
> Thanks again to everyone reading and following and especially to those who have reviewed; thank you SO much for your kind words, it's so appreciated!
> 
> The next chapter should be up in the next few weeks!
> 
> ~cosette141

 

 

 

_I can do this._

Tucker shifted his position, sitting on the floor of a moving truck resembling an ambulance. His gaze slowly met the two men sitting across from him, clad in white suits and stone faces. They both wore the same sunglasses that Agents O and K wore, making them impossible to read.

The truck hit another bump and Tucker slid into the wall again.  _I can do this_ , he repeated, the four words acting like a mantra.

"So, uh," he said shakily, trying to appear casual. "Where are we going?"

"Shut it, Ghost." said the man on the left. His expression barely shifted to say the three words.

Tucker swallowed. "Actually, it's Tucker. Tucker Foley. Casper High renowned tech wizard and ladies man."

The agent on the right titled his head. "The ghost did his homework on his chosen host, then," he muttered. "Nice try, Phantom. We know it's you inside the boy."

_Man, they're even crazier than we thought_. Nervousness flitted through Tucker's veins, his heart thumping in his chest. So, if they didn't believe him… what were they planning to do to get Phantom out of him?

Tucker shivered. It wasn't that hard to guess.

Officially giving up trying to talk his way out of this mess, Tucker leaned his head against the metal wall of the truck. Every thought he had was quickly followed by the strong fear of very pointy objects coming into contact with him, throwing all rational thought out the window. He pulled his knees closer to his chest, his handcuffs clinking together. They burned with a slight green glow; ghost-proof. The entire back of the vehicle they were in hummed with some sort of static, and Tucker had to guess if Danny was here he'd have been unable to phase through the handcuffs  _and_  the vehicle itself.

It was a while before the truck came to a complete stop. Tucker's heart jumped into his throat as the two agents he was sitting in the back with grabbed him by the arms and hoisted him out of the door. They set him on his feet in the parking lot, and Tucker squinted in the sunlight. A large, white building loomed over him. He swallowed hard.

They were at the GIW headquarters.

Tucker felt his knees practically buckle. He'd had a hunch this was where he would be taken but it still felt surreal to be standing in front of it.

_I can do this_ , he told himself again, though even the voice in his head was starting to shake.

At least a dozen agents rushed them at once. Before he could blink, he was inside the building, hands grabbing at him, moving him, shoving him, never leaving him. A metal door clanged shut, some sort of buzzing hummed around the walls. Steel walls hissed open in front of him and clanged shut as they passed through. He was marched down a long, white hallway, surrounded by the agents, footsteps echoing loudly off the walls.

Tucker suddenly felt very, very small.

His heart pounding so loud in his head that he could see agents' mouths moving but couldn't hear their words. They led him down to a door at the end. An agent knocked once on it, and it slid automatically open in an instant. It revealed a compact, stark white room that resembled a small lab. A metal chair was bolted in the center of the room. Tucker was forced toward it.

Morbid curiosity grazed his eyes over the items in the room, settling on a table next to the chair. Every type of pointy object and needle in his worst nightmare lay neatly on trays, sparkling in the light.

Panic seized his chest.

He started fighting.

Tucker jerked against the holds on him, holds that just tightened the more he struggled, like he was trying to escape quicksand. A whine escaped his throat as they pulled him closer and closer to the chair. He jerked and yanked and pulled but they were stronger than him, so much stronger.

"No!" he breathed, but he was at the chair. They tried to turn him around but he kicked backward, his foot sinking into a target and he heard an irritated groan. Encouraged, he fought and kicked harder until something exploded in the side of his head and the next thing he knew he was being lifted from the ground, dazed and with a splitting headache.

He was forced against the chair again and he pulled back. "No—!" And he wasn't quite sure what made him say it, but suddenly he was yelling, " _Danny_!"

"Get him secured, now!" came the short demand, and Tucker was quickly overpowered. His arms were seized and he was lifted off the ground and turned around, slammed into the chair. They pinned him there, and the handcuffs were removed as glowing restraints secured his wrists and ankles.

The agents, all breathing a bit heavier, finally took a step back and watched Tucker squirm in the chair.

Tucker, who was near hyperventilating. The restraints were strong. He jerked one last time, only resulting in making his wrists and ankles chafe. He finally stopped, staring at the agents who were staring at him, his entire body trembling with fear.

He stilled his futile movements and watched the agents with wide eyes as they traded demands and status updates to each other. Someone flicked a switch on the wall and the whole room buzzed just like the hallways had been on the way here, and the ambulance had on the way here. Tucker's breathing tripled and he shut his eyes, feeling lightheaded. He tried to slow it, calm himself down.

_No… I hate hospitals… I hate tools… I hate doctors…_

"Is the subject secure?"

Tucker's eyes snapped back open. A woman agent-a Gal in White?-was in front of him, looking like a strict, evil librarian. She wasn't wearing sunglasses, just regular frames, but her eyes behind them were dark and cold enough that he doubted she needed the shades to look as imposing as the rest.

Something brushed his arm and Tucker jumped with a little squeak, turning to see the same scanner from the classroom beeping near his shoulder. It let loose a loud whine.

"Phantom is still in the boy, Agent E." said one of the men at his shoulder. But Tucker couldn't tear his eyes away from Agent E to see who had spoken. E was staring at him with a sort of sick smile.

"Good," E said slyly. "Very good."

Tucker's blood ran cold.

"P-please," Tucker stammered out, his voice shaking so badly he could hardly make out the words. "Please d-don't h-hurt me," he pleaded.

E just raised a sharp eyebrow, directing her question to the agent beside Tucker. "The ghost is still clinging to this story?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

She let out a short breath. "That will change in time." She tilted her head, watching Tucker. "We'll have to separate them first."

Tucker's eyes widened. He sunk back into the chair until it dug painfully into his skin. "I-I'm not-" But his words snapped off into a yell as a strong electric current lit his nerves on fire. It ended as quickly as it started, but the pain was deep. He breathed hard, whipping his head toward her in panic. "Wh-wh-"

"That's called  _pain_ , Ghost." she told him coldly. "I'm sure as an ectoplasmic entity you're not used to that sensation. But as long as you insist on hiding within the child," she said with a growing smile, "you will feel his pain. And the longer you make us wait, the worse the pain will get." Her face twisted into something even more sinister. "So, I'll give you the choice. Leave the child, and the pain will end."

Tucker breathed hard, his every nerve still on fire. He was shaking hard from head to toe. "I-I-I-" He gulped air. "I'm… n-not-"

Another shock.

This one sank deeper than the last one, making him cry out. It lasted a few moments longer, agony ripping through his body.

It stopped, and he slumped against the chair, groaning. "St-stop," he breathed out. "Pl-please, please, just-"

Another.

He screamed, his insides  _burning_.

It seemed to last a millennium. When it finally ended, he moaned, slumping back into the chair.

"Huh."

Pain still sizzled through his nerves. He managed to lift his head to glare at her.

Agent E looked a cross between annoyed and bored. She put the remote control in her hand-that must control the electricity in the chair- down on the tray and crossed her arms. She narrowed her eyes at Tucker, who was still trying to calm his breathing down. She tilted her head calculatingly. Then she smiled again. It made a chill slip down Tucker's spine. "Oh, it will be so much  _fun_  to play with you, Ghost." She snapped her fingers, and each agent in the room looked at her. "Out."

"Wh-what…" stammered Tucker, watching the men single file out of the room.

"Don't worry, Mr. Phantom," drawled Agent E. "We're going to leave you be for a moment, let you…  _relax_. You have much more stamina than I had expected. This will take a little longer, but... It will be much easier to continue once this  _kicks in_." She gave him another terrifying smile, backing up to the door of the room, and pressing a button on the wall. Tucker braced himself for more pain, but none came. Something simply hissed quietly, almost like an air conditioner. Agent E gave him another sick look, then left the room, the doors sliding shut.

Tucker immediately started fighting the restraints again. He jerked and pulled, only to have his wrists and ankles burn and bruise and the chair rattle a little against the bolts.

"Come on, come on, come on!" he begged the chair. His entire body still throbbed, as if someone had burnt him from the inside. He groaned and gave up, dropping his head over his chest in defeat. His heart beat so loud and so fast.

He hesitated for a moment, suddenly thinking about Danny.

There were several nights since the GIW's appearance in Amity Park when Danny and Tucker had slept over at each other's houses, or Danny had simply just fallen asleep over a video game. More than once, Tucker had been startled by Danny jerking awake. He never slept soundly anymore. Whenever Tucker had asked about it, Danny'd shook it off and blamed it on a nightmare about his parents embarrassing him.

But Tucker had watched him sleep before. He'd heard the fear in his friend's voice, mumbling desperate words.

Tucker swallowed hard, realizing what those  _nightmares_  must have really been about.

He looked down at his shaking hands.

This… this  _horror_  was something Danny worried about all the time. Tucker swallowed hard. Tucker and Sam usually rolled their eyes at the sight of the GIW for the idiots they were. But there was always a chance they  _wouldn't_  screw up. There was a chance they'd get lucky, they'd find Danny, they'd catch him at a vulnerable moment and…

Tucker's heart twisted.

Danny must practically live his whole life in fear. Never able to relax. Always looking over his shoulder. He endures it all, just to protect his town and the people he loves.

How had Tucker never realized what his best friend went through every single day?

He trembled in the silence of the room, listening to the air conditioning. He took a breath. He had to get out of here. Another thought of more electric shocks and his heart was pounding in his head.

He shut his eyes, both desperately wishing for his friend and being so damned grateful he was far, far away.


	4. Chapter 4

Danny glared at the ceiling.

"…fifty-nine, and… sixty!" Maddie sang from her perch on the edge of his bed. She took the thin thermometer from his mouth and frowned at it. "Hmm." She looked at Danny. "That's strange. It says your temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Are you feeling cold?" At Danny's blank stare, she pursed her lips and looked back at the little device. "Maybe we should go see Dr. Anderson."

Danny sighed audibly. He'd argued with his mother for ten minutes just to get her to leave him alone, but she'd made him take the thermometer. The last thing he needed right now was his secret blown. "No—Mom, I told you. I'm not sick! And, uh, Jazz broke the thermometer last week when she used it for some psych experiment." He nodded at his own lie. "Yup. She said it made things seem colder."

Maddie raised an eyebrow. "If you knew it was broken, why didn't you tell me?"

Danny swallowed. "Uh…" He squinted and rubbed his temples. "Actually, my head does kinda hurt…"

"Danny-boy!"

Both Maddie and Danny turned as Jack walked into his bedroom. He was holding some sort of small vacuum that Danny stiffened at. "Uh…" he started.

"I've been thinking," said Jack, revving up the machine. "Maybe it's a ghost that's got Danny feeling down!"

Danny's heart flipped in his chest. He scrambled backward against his headboard. "No, no, no, I'm better! All better!"

Jack's entire being deflated in disappointment. He turned off the machine and it whizzed into silence much the same way its inventor did. "Aw, okay."

"Maybe you should just get some sleep," said Maddie finally. She kissed Danny's forehead and Danny made a face.

"Yeah, sleep sounds good," Danny mumbled.

Maddie got up and ushered Jack out of the room. She tilted her head back and said, "Just call us if you need anything, sweetie!"

And his door shut.

Danny threw off his blankets. _Finally_. "I'm gonna kill Sam and Jazz for this," he muttered to himself.

Temporarily forgetting about the injury, he shot upright, only to groan through his teeth and grab at the bandaged wound. He breathed hard for a moment, both riding out the pain and noticing that it actually hurt a slightly _less_ than it had this morning. So, he _was_ healing. Just… slow. Incredibly slow. He made a mental note to keep a closer eye on what his parents were inventing from now on.

Danny shut his eyes. _Sitting up_ was a hard enough task. He was in no shape to fight. Let alone fight the _GIW_. Even at his strongest, he knew he was no match. There were simply too many of them, and now that they've had time to build new weapons, ones that _worked_ …

But that didn't matter. His eyes opened, burning a fierce green. Prepared or not, he was going to go after Tucker and get him out of that place. He wasn't about to let them hurt his best friend, and was definitely not about to let Sam and Jazz walk straight into that death trap to clean up this mess.

He shut his eyes and whispered, "Goin' ghost!" and with a flash of white his humanity disappeared.

He was going to have quite a late start to save Tucker, and he could only hope that Sam and Jazz haven't done anything stupid. This wasn't their lane; _he_ was the ghost fighter. _He_ was the town's protector. Not them. If anyone was putting themselves headfirst into danger, it was him. If anyone had to be stuck inside the GIW waiting for who-knew-what… it should be him.

Not his best friend.

With one last glance to his bedroom door, he pushed himself to his feet. He wrapped an arm around himself and clenched his teeth, but made his way to the window. He opened it with his free arm and jumped out.

Flying hurt much less than walking, but it was still awkward and painful. He kept one arm around himself, twisting his fingers in his suit. Wind whipped through his hair as he made a straight shot out of Amity Park, his speed buffeting the branches of trees beneath him.

The town began to fade away and the trees thinned out until a wide expanse of a whole lot of nothing was spread out below him. His chest tightened a bit and his heart stuttered.

He ignored the fear and pressed on. _I'm coming, Tuck_. _Just hang on_.

He squeezed the arm around himself tighter as it throbbed, making him jerk mid-flight. He cursed under his breath and righted himself.

It wasn't until he saw the building in the distance that he slowed down.

It was there, a spec of stark white in the otherwise empty expanse of land. Lone and imposing.

Danny stilled in the air, staring at it. Tightness seized his chest. He let out a breath. Then newfound determination burned from his eyes and he shot ahead, flying faster from before, ignoring the pain from the sharp movement.

He had to get Tucker out now, and before Sam and Jazz did anything. In and out. He was quick. He could be quick. He _would_ be quick.

The compound grew as he flew closer to it. First the barbed wire fence, sparking green. Danny almost rolled his eyes at it; ghosts _flew_. Height was no issue.

He turned himself invisible several hundred yards from the gates. He steeled himself and pressed onward, flying easily overtop the buzzing fence.

He was inside the yard. Flying over the parking lot, and straight for the walls of the building. A few guards patrolled, but none saw him. He was invisible, after all.

He winced a little seeing the wall to the building get closer and closer. It was a GIW building; there was sure to be some sort of ghost-proof protection. Willing to try it anyway, he shut his eyes and drove straight into it.

...And passed through. Still invisible, and now intangible, Danny hesitated, floating in the middle of the empty hallway, breathing hard and squeezing his arm around himself a little tighter. White walls surrounded him, stretching on forever. He hovered for a moment.

He was in the GIW headquarters.

His chest tightened more.

He shook himself. _Just find Tucker._

He passed through another wall, beginning his search for his best friend.

_I'm here, Tuck. I'm coming._

* * *

Tucker pulled and jerked at the restraints again, groaning aloud when they didn't budge. He collapsed a little in the chair, mind racing. How long has it been since they left him here? Ten minutes? Twenty? And, a more terrifying thought…

What were the going to do to him when they came _back_?

He was only sitting there stewing in his own terror for a few minutes after that when he felt the slightest breeze, and someone was suddenly close in front of him.

He screamed a little from the suddenness of it and jerked back in the chair, turning his head away in fear of being hit or stabbed or whatever these people had in mind for him when-

"Tucker!"

That voice was like _heaven_.

Tucker opened his eyes and jerked his head back around. Sure enough- _Danny_ was hovering in front of him. "Danny!" gasped Tucker. Shock, quickly followed by relief, overflowed his veins. He let out a huge breath as Danny dropped to the ground in front of him. "Oh, my god, you're here, thank _god_ you're here, Danny, you-" He stopped himself quickly as something _else_ settled in his veins and his eyes widened. "-you're _here_! What-what are you thinking, Danny?" He whipped his head around the small room. "Danny, get _out of here_! They could be back any minute!"

Danny's eyes were hard. "I'm not leaving without you, Tucker!"

Tucker stared at him for a moment, taken slightly aback. He didn't notice it at first glance, but he could see it clearly now. Danny looked _awful_. He had an arm wrapped tightly around his stomach, where Tucker knew the disc had hit him last night. He looked even paler than he usually did in ghost form and was hunched forward a little, as if simply standing was a feat. His eyes were exhausted and he just simply looked worn out.

"Dude, are you okay?" asked Tucker.

Danny just huffed out a breath, wrapping his arm around himself a little tighter. "Tucker I don't have _time_ for this, okay? We need to get out of here _now_!"

And Tucker saw it then-the fear in his eyes. He knew he was a mess. He knew this was a bad idea. But here he was anyway.

Tucker had the best friend in the whole damned world.

"Okay, hurry, they left a while ago and I don't know when they'll be back-" said Tucker as Danny circled the chair he was in. "Oh! Get rid of the remote on that table," he said quickly, gesturing toward the little metal remote on the tray beside him with his head.

Danny picked it up. "This?"

"Yes!" said Tucker breathlessly.

"What does it do?" asked Danny, giving him a dark look.

"Electrocutes the chair," said Tucker reluctantly.

A darker look - an angry, murderous look - passed through Danny's eyes, and he closed his fist over the device and it snapped into a million pieces. Tucker flinched, watching the dust fall, slightly intimidated by the sheer strength. "Uh…" he said. "Thanks."

"The chair," said Danny. "I think this will unlock-" Danny reached for the restraint around Tucker's wrist, but the moment his fingers touched it, static sizzled and he jerked his hand back with a gasp.

"You okay?" asked Tucker quickly.

Danny shook out his burnt fingers. He gave the chair a calculating look. Tucker followed his eyes, and where his gaze ended. There was a small electric box at the side of the chair. Danny gave it a small blast of ectoplasm and it exploded. Tentatively, he reached out to touch the chair, which didn't shock him a second time. He nodded to himself.

He found the unlock switches on the chair easy after that and Tucker jumped out of the chair. "Oh, sweet freedom!"

Tucker looked to Danny, whose eyes were shut and he breathed hard, his arm tight around him again. Tucker felt fear flit through his veins again. "Okay, man, let's get out of here."

Danny nodded. "Great idea." He circled Tucker and grabbed him under his arms and flew up toward the ceiling, turning them both intangible. Until…

They both crashed into the solid ceiling and fell back to the ground, hard. Tucker broke Danny's fall, and the wind was knocked out of him for the second time in two days. He coughed hard. "I'm all for catching you when you fall, man," he wheezed. "But seriously?"

"What the hell-?" Danny sprang back up, stumbling a little, his face twisted in pain. "Agh-" He took a second to collect his breath. He stared up at the ceiling. "Why couldn't I phase through? I was intangible. We both were!"

Tucker swallowed hard.

Danny walked toward the wall, pressing a hand to it. His turned his arm intangible and he pressed against it, but it didn't phase through. He pressed harder. Nothing.

Tucker stood up, his heart beating hard in his head. "Danny, why can't you-"

"I don't know, Tucker!" Danny pressed both hands into the wall, trying again. No difference. "I could phase _in_ ; why can't I phase _out_?"

A different wall. Nothing. The door. Still nothing. He hit the wall in frustration.

"Maybe because they don't mind if ghosts get _in_ ," said Tucker in a quiet voice. He and Danny exchanged a dark look.

Danny hit the door again, harder than the first time.

"Danny…" said Tucker in a higher voice, suddenly very afraid.

Danny stood back a few feet, gathering an ectoblast, aiming at the door. Released it. It crashed into the wall and and smoke made them both shut their eyes. As it cleared, they both stared.

 _Nothing_.

Not even a scratch.

Danny stumbled back from it. He ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, my god."

"What do we do?" asked Tucker fearfully.

"I don't know!" exclaimed Danny, releasing another-unsuccessful-blast into the wall. He cursed under his breath. Tucker watched him in silence. He'd never seen Danny so infuriated. So… _scared_.

And that chilled Tucker to the bone.

Just then, they both heard sets of footsteps from beyond the door. Danny and Tucker looked at each other, sharing the same horror.

The agents were coming back.

Danny stood stock still, and Tucker could nearly see the wheels spinning rapidly in his head.

"Danny, you have to get out of here!" said Tucker desperately.

"I can't!" he hissed. And Tucker could hear the fear in his voice then.

"Then…" Tucker looked around the room. "Then hide!"

" _Where_?"

There wasn't a closet or even crevice in the room he could hide in. "Uh-uh-" It clicked. "Turn invisible!" Tucker whispered.

Danny nodded. Tucker watched him, but he didn't do anything. What was he waiting for? Tucker gave him a look. "Danny, turn invisible!"

Danny gave him a strange look. "I _am_!"

Tucker just stared at him. "No, you aren't!"

"What do you mean?" hissed Danny back.

"I mean _I can see you_!"

Danny looked down at himself and jerked. "Wha-" He stood still for a moment again. Stared at his fingers. "I… I can't." He looked at Tucker, panic in his eyes. "Why can't I?"

Tucker looked around the room. _The switch. The lights_. "Danny, I think they turned on something that makes them see you even if you're invisible!"

Danny cursed again.

The footsteps were nearly outside the door.

Tucker watched Danny look at it. The fear inside in his eyes. The defeat settling.

An idea hit Tucker instantly.

"Hide in _me_!" he said desperately.

Danny gave him a crazed look. " _What?_ "

"Overshadow me!" said Tucker quickly. "You can hide in me!"

Danny's face twisted in discomfort. "Tucker, I don't-I couldn't-"

Someone was turning the handle on the door.

"Danny, just _do it_!" hissed Tucker.

Danny looked from the door and back to Tucker, and with a heavy sigh, said, "I'm sorry about this." He jumped forward, and disappeared into Tucker's chest, knocking him back into the chair just as the door opened.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> Thanks again for all the reads and follows and everything! And a special thank you to those who reviewed, it means so much and always makes my day. Thank you!
> 
> Hope you like this one :) I'll get the next chapter up very soon!
> 
> ~cosette141

It happened fast.

Tucker hadn’t exactly known what to expect--hadn’t had time to think the entire idea  _ through _ \--when Danny began to take control.

The force of it sent him backward into the chair but he didn’t feel the impact. Liquid ice exploded in his chest and sped quickly down his legs and through his arms, alighting his nerves and numbing everything it touched. Tucker suddenly felt weightless. His eyes were screwed shut and everything was dark and cold and suddenly a  _ pressure _ was surrounding him. A strong, cold pressure at all sides, pushing him away from himself. And, well, he panicked.

Not just  _ panicked _ , either.

He freaked out.

He tried to open his eyes but found that he  _ couldn’t _ . Tried to move, but his limbs felt like lead. He no longer had control over any part of his body. He was trapped in a dark, cold recess of his mind. And it felt  _ vulnerable _ . His own body was no longer his and all other thought disappeared. Just as any drowning victim, Tucker tried to claw his way back to surface because  _ this was so not what he expected _ but he was clearly not as strong as the pressure surrounding him. And that just terrified him more.

_ Tucker! _

If he had control of his lungs he’d be hyperventilating by now. He pushed and shoved and struggled against the hold, panic consuming him.

_Tucker, stop fighting me!_ _  
_ And suddenly, the dark world disappeared and his eyes opened of their own accord. He saw the room he was held in at the GIW headquarters. Saw the door opening, and the agents filing in. And rational thought was again thrown out the window and he was struggling even harder.

_ Tucker, please... _

The voice was somewhere in his mind, and this time it was pained and pleading. Tucker stilled, because he recognized it.

_ D-Danny? _ he wondered, still trying to find something to cling onto in the void of nothingness.

_ Yes, _ said Danny in a strained voice, and Tucker’s fear froze as his best friend’s voice floated into his mind. Right. Danny. It was just Danny.

_ I can’t move _ , said Tucker fearfully.

Almost like a sigh emanated from Danny’s mind.  _ I know. I’m sorry. I won’t hurt you, Tucker. I swear. Please don’t be scared. _

Tucker’s panic hesitated again, wondering why Danny felt the need to say that. And then it hit him. Danny thought he was scared of  _ him _ .

Which… wasn’t so far off the target.

At the moment, he  _ was _ .

He was completely and utterly under Danny’s control. At his will and mercy. Danny was much stronger than he was, and even if he tried, Tucker knew there was nothing he could do unless Danny let him. And that wasn’t something Tucker had ever thought of even after Danny told him and Sam about overshadowing his father. 

And Jack hadn’t even been  _ aware _ .

For some reason, Tucker never quite realized just how much power Danny had over people. And just how powerful he was. 

But if anyone had to take full control of him, anyone that Tucker would be able to trust completely, it would be Danny.

Taking a facsimile of a deep breath, Tucker tried to calm himself down. The calmer he felt, however, the further he felt from the control of his body. It was as if an ocean current was taking him further and further away from the shore. He felt himself start to fight it but he stopped, stilling, as if treading in deep water. Completely ungrounded and vulnerable.

_ I know,  _ said Tucker, wondering if Danny could still feel his fear.  _ I trust you. _

And a strong wave of relief hit him, and Tucker quickly realized that was from  _ Danny _ .

Tucker focused back on what he--what  _ Danny _ \--was looking at. He felt as if he were watching a screen from a chair in a theatre. Seeing everything as it was happening, but unable to interact with it. His panic jumped again but he kept it at bay, doing his best not to interfere with Danny’s control. 

Now three agents were walking toward them. One of them was Agent E, and it sparked a burst of fear.

_ That’s Agent E,  _ thought Tucker, unable to keep the fear from coating it.

He felt Danny’s determined resolve.

_ She won’t hurt you. _

Tucker suddenly felt a wave of his own relief. Danny was here, he’d protect him. Somewhere he wondered who would protect  _ Danny _ but Agent E interrupted his thought.

“Hello, Ghost.” said E with a cold grin.

If he could, Tucker would have smacked his forehead with his palm. The entire time, the GIW believed Danny was overshadowing him. And now, he actually  _ was _ .

_ Ironic _ , deadpanned Danny.

Tucker froze.  _ You heard me? _

A little guilt from Danny.  _ I can hear everything you think, Tucker. _

Tucker let himself wade a little further away from the shore.

“Hm.” said Agent E, and both Danny and Tucker’s focus snapped back to her. “You are a strong one, Mr. Phantom. I’m surprised you’ve lasted this long.” She shrugged. “Time will tell, then.”

Both Tucker and Danny’s confusion and apprehension mixed with each other.

“Let’s try this once more,” said E. “Remove yourself from the boy. Now.”

If anything, the pressure around Tucker-- _ Danny _ \--grew stronger. Almost in a protective way. And this time it made Tucker feel safer.

“For the last time,” said Danny, his voice coming out flawlessly as Tucker. “I’m just a high school student!”

Out of nowhere, Tucker felt a muted jerk of pain and his view jerked sharply to the side. It took him a moment--and the burst of Danny’s anger--to realize that E had slapped him.

“Don’t like that, do you, Ghost?” asked E, and Tucker watched her sinister smile grow through his slitted eyes.

Tucker’s head moved, to glare at her fully.

“Well,” said E, moving to the table beside them. She picked up a long, jagged knife. She held it up in front of Tucker’s eyes and Tucker felt Danny tense his body. “The electricity will be a spa treatment compared to this.” She twisted the knife in her grip, making Danny tense harder. “This through the boy’s leg would be quite excruciating, I assume.” 

Tucker’s panic was back, full force.

His instinct--to run--was impossible, but he reflexively tried anyway. He tried to catch the reins of his control, but they were too far away. He just wanted to get the hell out of here, now.

_ Tucker..! _

“Ah. See that, Agents? We’re getting a reaction on this one.”

The panic was just too strong, he couldn’t unsee the knife. Tucker struggled harder until--

“Tucker, stop!”

Tucker froze.

Danny froze.

Each of the agents froze.

Because Danny said that  _ out loud _ .

Agent E grinned wider. “Ah… there you are.”

“The host,” said one of the other agents. “The student’s name is Tucker Foley. He said so in the van on the way here.”

_ Danny… _ thought Tucker in a small voice.

Danny didn’t respond.

But Tucker could feel his fear.

E was still smiling. “The host is trying to fight back.” She tilted her head. “Not so strong, are we, now, Ghost? We know you’re inside the boy. There’s no sense in staying. You think we won’t hurt him to get to you?” she asked. She leaned close in, inches from Tucker’s face. “You think we won’t kill him to get to you?”

Anger, deep, black anger. Danny was furious.

Danny raised Tucker’s head. “If you hurt him,” he said dangerously, in a tone that chilled Tucker to his core, “I promise you a worse fate.”

The threat only made E more satisfied. “Show yourself, Ghost. Don’t be a coward.”

That gave rise inside Danny.

_ Danny _ … thought Tucker shakily.  _ What do we do? _

Danny didn’t say anything. And his silence did nothing to make Tucker feel any better.

He didn’t know what to do.

“Well,” said E, straightening up. She clearly realized Danny wasn’t going to leave Tucker that easily. “You made one vital mistake, Ghost.”

Danny tensed.

“You’ve proven your one weakness.”

Tucker’s chest tightened with Danny’s fear.

“The boy.”

E raised the knife, and Danny shut Tucker’s eyes.

 


	6. Chapter 6

E raised the knife, and Danny shut Tucker's eyes.

Tucker waded helplessly in the dark nothingness, terror consuming him.

 _I told you_ , he heard Danny say suddenly. Strong. Determined.

 _Danny?_ Tucker squeaked.

_I won't let her hurt you._

That was the only warning he got.

Because suddenly, the pressure in him shifted violently, and began to loosen.

Tucker was pulled forcibly forward.

His eyes were still screwed shut, so it was a dark ride. Sounds crescendoed in his ears, dull pain throbbed in his face from E's slap, he could feel- _he could feel_ -as he was rushed back to the surface.

Tucker jerked in the chair, his eyes flying open. He jerked his head around. He could move. _He could move_. He was dizzy and a little nauseous but he was himself again.

And just as he came to, the flash of the knife passing before his eyes made him scream.

He scrambled back in the chair but something shimmered in the air.

 _Danny_.

Tucker barely saw the satisfaction on Agent E's face when, with a wild growl, Danny shot forward and tackled the woman across the room, slamming her into the wall behind her. E hit the wall hard and the knife clattered to the ground.

Tucker breathed hard, eyes wide and heart still slamming painfully hard in his chest.

But nothing matched the outrage in his blood.

"Danny!" he exclaimed. "Why—what are you _doing_?!" He untangled himself from the chair. "You were _safe_!"

Danny stumbled backward, breathing hard, and clenching his teeth. "I couldn't let her—" But before he could finish, Agent E lashed out against him, sinking her boot heavily into Danny's abdomen.

Right over his injury.

Danny cried out, the force of it knocking him backward and skidding across the floor. He crashed into the wall and groaned, curling in on himself.

" _Danny_!" cried Tucker, ripping himself out of the chair and diving to the ground beside Danny. The whine of loaded ectoguns sounded behind him as the other agents aimed their weapons at Danny but Tucker didn't care.

Danny was shaking hard, agonized moans slipping out between clenched teeth. Tucker grabbed his shoulder. His injury. She'd kicked him hard right over his injury from the night before. Every muscle was pulled taut as Danny held himself tightly, lines of pain etched into his face. "Danny!" breathed Tucker. Fresh ectoplasm bled through Danny's fingers. Tucker's heart pounded in his chest.

"Isn't this… something."

Tucker whipped his head up.

Agent E was standing now, staring at Danny with a kind of interest that made Tucker's skin crawl.

Another whine from one of the guns. "Agent E," said one of them. "Should we take him out?"

Tucker tightened his hold on Danny, fear and anger burning his veins.

"No," she said, seemingly lost in thought. She was still staring at Danny. Transfixed. "Agent O," she said without looking away.

"Ma'am."

"You were the one to get the Ghost's DNA, weren't you?" She tilted her head, staring even more intently. Tucker tightened his grip on Danny's shoulder even more.

"I was, ma'am."

"And that was twenty-four hours ago?" she said, more of a fact than a question.

"It was, ma'am."

Agent E took a step closer. Tucker's heart beat in his head.

"Mr. Phantom is still injured." she said quietly.

O's face shifted, but expression was hard to tell behind the dark sunglasses. "That's impossible." He lowered the gun and stepped closer to stare and Tucker felt vulnerable under the scrutiny.

E raised an eyebrow. "I kicked him. I didn't do _that_."

Neon ectoplasm continued to leak to the ground, forming a small puddle at Tucker's knees.

"That's impossible," O repeated. He looked at her. "Ghosts regenerate almost immediately." He adjusted his sunglasses a little, giving Danny a closer look.

E's brows quirked. "What?"

"Agent K," he said distantly. "He cut himself with it by accident a few weeks ago. It was minor but… it hasn't quite healed yet. We've found that something in the Fenton's invention stunts white blood cells." He looked back at Danny. "But the ghosts we tested it on healed instantly. They're just ectoplasm."

E's eyes narrowed in thought.

Tucker's heart _pounded._

E smiled a cold, thin smile. "This one is _different_."

 _Not good._ Tucker looked down at Danny, whose eyes were still screwed shut. He was breathing hard and looking like he was simply trying to stay conscious.

"Danny," said Tucker frantically. He shook his shoulder hard. "Danny, get up. Please get up!"

Danny blinked his eyes open, finding Tucker's. His eyes no longer had the determined, strong spark in them. It was just pain. Pain, and a lot of fear.

E's eyes narrowed further.

Tucker's grip on Danny's shoulder tightened until his knuckles were white.

E took a few more steps toward Danny. Tucker's eyes went wide as she approached. He let go of Danny's shoulder and moved quickly in front of him. "Get away from him!" he demanded in a shaking voice.

E snapped her fingers.

Tucker was suddenly grabbed by the two men. He was lifted from the ground. He struggled and pulled but they dragged him away easily. He dug his heels in the ground. " _Danny_!"

Tucker watched helplessly, pulling and yanking against the grips on him as E approached him. Danny's eyes shot open then, as if sensing her proximity. He must not have expected to see her so close because his eyes went wide and he jerked backward, only to make him groan through his teeth. But he knew the consequences. He knew the gravity of the situation. Anger mixed with the pain in his eyes and Danny lifted a shaking hand, gathering ecto energy. "Get away…" he hissed, but E ignored him.

With a calculating look in her eyes, E slammed her heel over his injury for a second time.

Danny cried out, his voice breaking, the ecto energy fizzling out.

This time she didn't just kick him. She pinned him there like that, leaning her weight into him. Danny groaned, his voice cutting off into something so wounded it caught Tucker in the chest.

" _Stop it_!" yelled Tucker, hot tears burning his eyes, his heart twisting at the sound of Danny's agony.

E did. She took a step back. Danny was gasping, breathing fast, short breaths through his teeth with his eyes screwed shut.

E continued to stare at him, smiling again.

Tucker's blood ran cold.

"He feels pain." she said with intrigue. "This is going to be much more interesting than we could have ever imagined." She looked back toward the agents holding Tucker. "Restrain Mr. Phantom. Get him in the lab."

"No!" growled Tucker. He wasn't letting this happen. Not to Danny. He couldn't.

Tucker yanked and pulled desperately at the arms around him.

Danny needed him.

Tucker pushed and shoved but the agents were much stronger than him. _Why is everyone stronger than him?_

E turned to him, then.

Tucker stilled, fear holding him in place.

"For some reason, you matter to the Ghost. The relationship between you will come in handy if he doesn't quite… _cooperate_."

God, no.

No, no, no.

This couldn't be happening.

"No— _Danny_!" cried Tucker, struggling even harder.

"Sedate the boy," said E. "Lock him in one of the rooms."

"Ma'am."

Agent O was suddenly in front of Tucker, picking up a syringe from the tray beside the chair. Needles. _God, not needles._ Tucker struggled harder. " _Danny_!" He felt a sharp prick in his arm and he squealed. Instantly weakness trailed through his limbs. His vision blurred.

"N-no," he slurred, blinking heavily.

Agent E and Agent O were walking back over to Danny, lifting him up. Tucker's chest constricted. Danny wasn't fighting. Another groan slipped out between Danny's teeth. _He wasn't fighting._

He couldn't.

"N-no," whispered Tucker, eyes heavier and heavier.

Tucker blinked again.

And this time, the blackness remained.


	7. Chapter 7

Agony.

Danny was in agony.

"—get him into the lab—"

The pain—raw, deep pain—cutting into him—something had to be broken, more than one something had to be broken—

"Danny!"

Tucker.

Danny's eyes were screwed shut. He forced them open at the sound of his name. In the haze of pain, he could make out two of the agents holding a struggling Tucker. Danny blinked heavily, trying to pull himself together—pull anything together—he needed to get to Tuck, he couldn't let them—

Pain exploded. A whole wave of fresh, nerve-splitting pain and Danny's senses were overloaded. He was being lifted, could feel hands on him somewhere beyond the fire.

Somewhere, very far away, he could hear Tucker's voice—or maybe he just imagined it.

He fought to hold onto consciousness as he was dragged away. Tried to open his eyes-the fire was losing its intensity. He could see-stark white walls, the floor—someone shifted their hold on him and he saw stars for a few precious seconds—or were they minutes?—and suddenly he opened his eyes to a large laboratory, a table in the center. He was being dragged toward it.

He knew what that meant.

Fear woke him.

He fought.

But he was far too weak to shake off the holds. Every movement sent another jolt of pain through him. He was too weak for this.

He was too human for this.

Danny blinked rapidly, groaning through his teeth, and he felt himself fading…

He was thrown on the table, more pain, too much, until-

A bright light flashed out like the blade of a knife.

Panic consumed him.

Don't change back, don't change back, don't—

Using every ounce of strength and control he had, Danny's eyes shot wide and he clamped onto his core, freezing the ring of light around his waist, and it shivered in the air, caught in conflict.

All agents in the room froze.

They stared, the light reflecting off their faces.

After what felt like ages, Danny felt himself win the battle and the light fizzled out, leaving him breathing harsh and fast, even closer to passing out than he was before. He jerked, but his arms and legs were restrained to the table. He felt himself lose control and the light sparked, his core shifting. He grabbed a hold of it again and shoved it out of existence, holding on for dear life.

And fear like no other was gripping his heart.

He couldn't hold onto this forever.

"What the hell was that?" asked one of the agents, taking off his sunglasses. He was blinking as if he wasn't sure if what he'd seen was real.

"Never seen a ghost do that," said another agent.

But it was Agent E that Danny's eyes were glued to, watching her with raw, unadulterated fear. She was looking at him with deep, sick interest. "What was that, ghost?" she asked him.

Danny breathed hard, closing his eyes, trying so damn hard to fight the growing weakness. Pain still beat at him from the inside. He could feel the icy ectoplasm dripping from him to the table.

"Everyone out," snapped Agent E.

"But—"

"—can't we just—"

"I said out."

Danny vaguely heard the scuffle of footsteps leaving the room, mutters of disappointment, and the distinct sound of the door shutting and locking.

He was alone with the monster.

"A ghost that feels pain."

Danny jerked at the sound of her voice, closer than it was before. She was by his shoulder, looking at him with a pointedly blank gaze. Like she was staring at a puzzle, trying to figure him out.

—rip you apart—

He was breathing so fast it made him dizzy. Panic spun his head. He shut his eyes clamping harder and harder onto his control—

—molecule—

He was shaking. From fear or from the effort to stay in this form, he didn't know.

—by molecule—

Danny swallowed. Hollowly, he gasped, "Wh-what're you gonna do to me?" His question was small and broken and he kicked himself for letting it be.

"You're a bit of an enigma, Ghost," she said. Danny forced his eyes open. She was still staring at him. In an analytical way that only scared him more. "See," she went on, "I've dissected my fair share of your kind—" A small noise, something between a cry and a gasp escaped Danny's throat. "—but," she continued, "you seem… different." A pause, as she bored her gaze into his. "You are different." She took a step toward him, small and calculated. Danny flinched. She smiled. "A ghost who feels pain, a ghost who feels fear, a ghost who doesn't regenerate immediately…" She ticked each point off on long, gloved fingers. "And a ghost who… I don't even know how to explain what we just saw transpire here." She paused, thinking. If Danny had a heartbeat in ghost form it would have been pounding in his head. She looked at him. "Tell me, Ghost. What exactly are you?"

Danny didn't say anything.

Irritation flicked through her eyes. "This room is ghost-proof." she told him bluntly. "The walls, the ceiling, the floor. That table you're on is un-phaseable." She tilted her head. "You have nowhere to run. The child is unconscious," she went on, and Danny forced his eyes open again at the mention of Tucker. "He is of no help to you. Why you seem to care about him is still lost on me, and something I'm only slightly interested in." She stepped closer to him. Danny tensed. "But my point, is that there's no point in staying quiet, Ghost."

"Go to hell," he hissed between clenched teeth.

That smile of hers was back.

"Just because the child is of no help to you," she went on, and Danny felt his freezing temperature drop even more, "doesn't mean he is of no help to me." She stepped closer, leaned over his face. They were inches away. He put every ounce of hatred he could into his glare. "The last thing I want is to accidentally destroy you. You're delicate. I don't know why." The smile grew. Danny went rigid. "So you'll tell me what you really are, Ghost, or the child joins your kind."

Molten ice burned through Danny's being.

With an anger—a fury—he didn't know he had, he narrowed his eyes and spat, "If you do anything to Tucker—"

He didn't get the chance to finish.

Liquid fire ignited his body.

Somewhere beyond the inferno, he recognized it as electricity. He screamed, writhing, flashing back to the day it happened, the day that started it all—

—too—

—much—

—pain…

The current broke but it still ravaged his veins. He was shaking uncontrollably, jerking against the restraints, broken sounds he couldn't describe pulled from his throat until—

His grip on his core slipped again and the light flashed out, making Agent E jerk back.

It was harder to stop it this time. The desire, the need to change back was refreshing. It was inviting. It was relief.

He just wanted to let it go.

He was so tired.

So damn tired...

Danny's eyes snapped open.

With a groan, he fought it, pulling it back in. The light snapped out of the air and he breathed hard, a groan escaping through his teeth.

Agent E gasped.

Danny cracked his eyes open. Agent E was staring at his torso. Her face was blank with shock. There was no evil, no twist in her features. Pure, human shock.

Danny followed her gaze and looked down at himself, finding the cause of her shock.

He froze.

Because from the gash ripped into his suit, the ectoplasm that had been dripping on the table was no longer green.

It was red.


	8. Chapter 8

Tucker groaned.

It took him a moment to wake, his head pounding.

He blinked his eyes open, taking in new surroundings.

He was lying on the cold floor of a room that looked like it was made of metal. It was lit only by a single light in the ceiling. He blinked a few more times until-

Memories crashed instantly.

_GIW._

_Agent E._

_Danny._

"Danny!" cried Tucker, jerking up.

He was alone in the room. There was a single, bolted door in one wall, the others bare.

Tucker ran to it.

There was no handle. Tucker pressed his hand where it should have bene, the cold of the metal seeping into his skin, with a slight static from what must be some sort of anti-ghost technology.

No handle.

No way out.

Tucker stumbled backward.

"Nonono," he whispered. He pressed his hands to his head. "No, I can't be-" His eyes burned. His back hit a wall. "Danny…"

Who knew what they were doing to him by now?

" _This will be more interesting than we could have ever imagined_."

Tucker shut his eyes, hot tears burning his skin.

" _I won't let them hurt you, Tucker_."

Danny's worst nightmare.

Danny was going to… to be...

_How could I let this happen?_

Danny risked his life-his _life_ -to protect him. He didn't have to come here. He didn't have to fly straight into his worst imaginable hell…

And when Danny needed him- _needed_ him-

Tucker couldn't do a damn thing about it.

Danny hadn't just looked afraid. He had been _terrified_. Tucker had never seen his best friend so openly scared in his whole life. When Danny was Phantom, he took on this persona, this air of confidence that was even regal to Tucker. And, maybe foolishly, Tucker almost believed that Danny didn't _get_ scared. But that confident, superpowered _hero_ he always saw as his best friend...

That wasn't the Danny he saw on the floor in that room.

This Danny was just a… _kid_.

And he was about to be…

_He was about to be-_

A sound-something between a sob and a groan-escaped him, and he slid down the wall to the floor.

Something clacked on the floor as he sat, and his eyes opened. Something was in his back pocket.

Realization struck him.

"My baby!" he cried.

He scrambled to get the small device out of his back pocket, and held it like a lifeline.

His PDA.

He smiled, hope flaring in his chest. "Oh, baby, you have no idea how-" His words died in his throat as he inspected it further.

Hope died instantly.

The entire thing was fried. It was charred a bit on the metal, the screen a rainbow of colors and a crack in the center. Tucker stared at it in confusion until it hit him.

The electricity.

_In the chair._

Tucker shut his eyes, dropping his head back on the wall.

The electricity had been too powerful for it to handle.

It was more than dead.

He could have gotten a message out to Sam. She _was_ there for what happened, but Tucker didn't know if she just told Danny and hoped for the best or was on her way herself. Though, he was in that ambulance _forever_ on the way here. There was no telling if she would be here in time to stop the GIW from doing what they were planning to do to Danny, message or not.

Tucker let the hopelessness sit for a moment before he opened his eyes again.

He had to do something.

But _what_?

There was nothing he _could_ do.

Tucker buried his head in his hands. He groaned into his fingers. _Why couldn't he ever do anything?_

He was trapped in one of the most high security buildings he's ever seen, one that was wired to trap Danny and never let him go. Tucker could care less about being trapped here himself; they'd let him go eventually. They had to. But Danny? The only way he was getting out of here would be by phasing through the place and getting away _but the damn ghost-proof technology wasn't about to let him do that_. Tucker groaned again. He lifted his head, blinking blearily at the room. He looked at his murdered PDA. The poor, unsuspecting technology. Tucker scoffed. If only he could kill the power in the building the same way they-

Tucker's head snapped up.

He stared at the broken, fried device in his hands.

He grinned.

Tucker shot to his feet.

That was _it_.

If he could shut down the ghost-proof technology in here, there would be nothing stopping Danny from phasing out of the building and getting free.

Tucker's grin widened.

" _I'm Tucker Foley, Casper high renowned tech wizard and ladies man."_

If there was anything he could handle, it was technology.

He kicked himself for not thinking about it earlier.

Tucker hastily wiped the tears off his cheek and pocketed his PDA. Doing this remotely with his PDA would have made things a whole lot easier, but he could still do it. He just had to find their server room and, well, crash it.

But first, he had to get out of here.

Tucker expertly examined the room. No handle on the door, but it opened electronically.

That was good.

_Finally_.

Something _he_ could do.

_I'm coming, Danny._

He scanned the room, finding the outline of metal plating he was looking for by the bottom corner of the door. _Perfect_. It was hard to see unless you were looking for it. Behind it would be the circuitry for the door, and maybe the light in the ceiling. Tucker hesitated, wondering why it wasn't hidden better. If they had a ghost like Technus in custody, he'd find this in no time.

But when Tucker reached a hand toward it and his fingers brushed the metal, static tickled his skin. It was similar to the static he felt from the chair, the same static that shocked Danny when he tried to free Tucker. _That must be why Agent E was so surprised with Danny's 'stamina' when she still thought he was inside me._

Tucker looked around; only the walls had the strange static. Realization dawned; _ghosts_ were the common prisoners in this room. Any touch of the walls or door would result in a painful shock. Giving credit where credit was due, it was actually a good attempt to keep ghosts from attempting an escape.

The GIW did at least think _some_ things through.

Tucker pried off the plating, that opened like a little door, to reveal a mess of thin and thick wires. He breathed out in pure joy; something finally made sense.

Carefully, he sifted through the wires, pinpointing which ones would do what he needed. He settled on one thick and one thin. Without these wires, the signal would no longer reach the door, and if Tucker was lucky, would release it from the lock.

Tucker paused, holding the wires, realizing he had nothing to cut them with.

He looked briefly around the room, but there wasn't anything sharp within distance. He looked down at himself, eyes freezing on the outline of his PDA in his pocket. He sighed.

Tucker pulled out his PDA. He looked lovingly at it, sadness in his eyes. "I will always remember you," he whispered, then slammed it against the floor.

It shattered in several pieces, and Tucker felt a pang in his chest at the sight. With a heavy heart, he picked up the sharpest shard and used it to cut the wires.

The moment the shard sawed through the wires, there was a shudder and the door slid open an inch.

"Yes!" breathed Tucker, jumping to his feet.

Slowly, Tucker slid the door open further, poking his head out.

He was in a hallway. It looked identical to the one he'd been dragged down earlier. It was empty. They obviously assumed he was no threat.

Good.

Tucker let himself out of the room, looking both ways. The whole building was buzzing with that same energy he heard where he was held first. The buzzing was enough to shake the floor. Identical doors to the one he opened lined the hallway, and Tucker realized this was where they kept the ghosts they caught captive. The buzzing was louder here because they were trying to make sure their hostages didn't go anywhere. He was closer to the source of the power than he was earlier.

There was only one way to find the server room.

Follow the power.

Luckily, the power the GIW used created sound.

Tucker ran down the hallway, trying to listen for an increase in the sound. There was one door at the end of the hallway, and Tucker pushed it open.

It led to a stairwell.

Tucker slapped his hands to his ears.

The buzzing was almost deafening.

Tentatively, Tucker ran up the stairs to the next floor, each step closer increasing the palpable energy. The stairs seemed to shake.

There was a door at the top of the stairs and, slowly, Tucker pushed it open.

His jaw nearly hit the floor.

It wasn't a hallway this time. It was a large, long room. There were hardly any lights on, making the air close to pitch black, but Tucker had no trouble seeing.

The glow of _hundreds_ of machines lit the air in neon. For half a second, Tucker's mission was forgotten and the tech lover in him lit with a sort of glee. _This_ was his kind of heaven.

...If it wasn't trying to kill his best friend.

His game face back on, Tucker headed down a narrow pathway between tables and shelves and stacks of computers, interfaces, monitors, and tech Tucker didn't even recognize. The static in the room lifted the hair on his arms. He could _feel_ the sheer amount of electricity.

Tucker made his way to the end of the room, where six monitors were set up to work automatically. Wires upon wires upon wires snaked from it to the rest of the room, in through the walls, the ceiling, to fuel the rest of the building.

Tucker rubbed his palms together, the light from the screens reflecting off his glasses.

"I gotcha, Danny," he whispered.

He smiled.

Time for this building to meet its match.

 


	9. Chapter 9

_This was it_.

Danny stared, transfixed, at the crimson staining the metal table and now the floor. He was still bleeding, neon green ectoplasm steadily dripping to the table. But he'd waited too long to stop himself from resorting back to his human form. It wavered long enough to change his blood from green to red, even in that span of seconds.

_This was really it._

"Is that…" said Agent E after a long hesitation. She dipped two gloved fingers to the blood on the table, bringing them to her eyes. She examined it. She looked at him.

Danny slowly looked at her, fighting the mix of fear and settling defeat in his chest. The shock was fading on her face, being replaced with an interest that was even deeper than before.

A tremor swept through Danny's body and ice slid through his veins. He shut his eyes, clamping hard onto his core. _Don't change back, don't change back—_

He didn't, and the need faded, making him collapse a little to the table.

_I can't do this forever_.

Agent E stepped away from him, and Danny breathed a short sigh of relief with the distance. He pulled weakly at the restraints, but was nowhere closer to getting out of them than he was before.

Metal was clinking together somewhere outside his vision, and Danny realized Agent E was doing something. Danny's chest tightened. His imagination was doing a fantastic job at filling in what his eyes couldn't see. Desperate panic had him pulling and jerking at the restraints harder. But his strength was waning. He couldn't free himself.

_Someone…_

_...please…_

"It…" came Agent E's voice. More tinkering with the metal whatever-it-was. "It can't be. That's-this is impossible."

Danny turned his head toward her, but she was too far outside his vision. His fear pulsed through his entire being like an erratic heartbeat.

- _more interesting-_

_-than we could have ever imagined-_

Clacks of high heels were coming back toward him and Danny flinched involuntarily.

Agent E stopped beside him, still looking at the blood on her fingers. She looked at him. She was more stunned than anything. "This is blood." she told him bluntly. "Warm, _human_ blood." She looked at him again, that wickedness twisting the shock in her eyes into something terrifying, making Danny's chest hurt more. "I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it. But this has the makeup of a human blood cells. It came from _you_." Sudden puzzlement shined in her eyes, quirking her brows. "Every ghost we've dissected-" Another broken sound ripped from Danny's throat at the casualness, the _bluntness_ of the words- "had no such properties. Blood needs _oxygen_ , and ghosts don't breathe." She shifted her calculating eyes to him, where he was near-hyperventilating. "But _you_ breathe. You've been breathing this entire time. How does a ghost breathe?" she asked quietly. She began to pace slowly, in a way that only scared Danny out more. Fear and panic were fighting for purchase, making Danny shake harder.

She knows.

She took a step toward him. "You breathe. You _feel_."

_She knows._

"You _suffer_." Another look to the blood on her fingers. "And you bleed _blood_." She stopped pacing, back near Danny's head. A heavy silence stretched between them, Danny staring at her with raw, pure fear.

She burned her gaze into his. "You aren't a ghost, are you?" she whispered. It wasn't a question.

Danny didn't respond.

He couldn't.

_She knows_.

Something sparked in her eyes. "So, if you aren't a _ghost_ ," she went on, and Danny's chest _burned_ , "then what _are_ you?"

Danny just shut his eyes, the weakness in his body becoming harder and harder to fight. "Please, stop," he whispered.

"If I were to run a DNA test on this," she said, and Danny's eyes widened, fear shooting down his spine, "what would I find?"

DNA.

_His DNA_.

If she linked Phantom to Fenton… it was over. Everything was over. He was an enigma. And an enigma to a scientist was a project. _A curiosity._ He wasn't human. They wouldn't stop until they figured out just what he was.

Even if it killed him in the process.

"What exactly are you, Phantom?" she asked him, rising to her full height.

His core shifted again but Danny held fast to it. The need—the damn _need_ —to change back was beginning to be suffocating. He was drowning in weakness and needed to break free for air. If he just...let...it...go...

"What are you?" she demanded, the slick interest in her eyes abandoned for something irritated and impatient.

Danny breathed hard, terrified of losing control. " _Please_ —" he gasped.

Agent E's eyes narrowed. "You're fighting whatever it is you're hiding." She narrowed her eyes further when she received no response. "Very well," she said. "I'll have to find out for myself, then."

Fire ignited his veins again.

He wasn't prepared for it. A scream ripped from his throat and he jerked hard off the table, the light from his transformation bursting free again.

_NO_.

Molten agony still coursed through his veins, but Danny's eyes snapped open.

This was not ending that easily.

With all his strength, he fought the transformation. The light froze again, it's reflection dancing off Agent E's transfixed eyes.

With a growl of effort, Danny shoved the light back out of existence, and collapsed to the table, heaving for breath.

"Dammit!"

The electricity was still coursing through his body, making him jerk uncontrollably. It finally shut off and Danny shook violently as the static traced his body.

He shut his eyes.

He couldn't fight his transformation another time.

If it happened again, he was done for.

His body felt burnt from the inside out. He was too weak.

The realization—the _truth_ —made his eyes burn.

"Well," she huffed. "I have another trick up my sleeve, Phantom." Something clicked and she growled, "Get me the child! Bring him down here now!"

Danny's eyes opened.

_Tucker._

Weak, tired fear filled his chest. "D-Don't ev'n th-th-th—" He couldn't speak. He was shaking too hard. He closed his eyes.

_Fight it, fight it, fight it—_

"You're lucky I'm too afraid to accidentally destroy you," growled Agent E. "But you _will_ tell me what I want to know," she went on angrily, "or the child will suffer."

Danny glared at her, his eyes a fire of hatred. But fear was quickly overcoming his anger.

Because he couldn't protect Tucker.

_He couldn't even protect himself._

A door opened loudly and footsteps pounded in.

"Agent E," said an out-of-breath voice.

"Where's the child?" demanded Agent E, making Danny crack his eyes open again.

"He's gone, the room is open!" he said in a huff.

"He's _what_?!"

Danny, however, started to _laugh_.

_Tucker was safe._

He laughed, the very action hurting his injured torso even more, and sounding more and more insane due to the wracking tremors in his body.

Pain erupted in the side of his head. Agent E had hit him hard, effectively shutting him up and causing the light to flash out again. Danny groaned.

He was walking on thin ice, and the entire surface was a spider web of cracks.

But he still smiled.

Tucker was safe.

At least one of them was going to make it out of this mess.

But unfortunately, that was no longer an option for him.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Tucker wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, his other hand still typing madly on the keyboard. His eyes were trained to the screens, following his progress as he broke past the firewall to bypass their password and he put every ounce of knowledge into his mission.

Once he was through, he could shut everything down.

Just...a...few...more...minutes…

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Danny was losing the battle.

The light flashed out again, and Danny cried out, more out of frustration than anything else.

But he was so tired.

_So damn tired._

He fought.

He _fought_.

But he wasn't strong enough.

_The light was growing._

No.

The last of his strength—he froze the light where it was. He gasped.

_No._

Even inside his head, the word wasn't strong and determined anymore.

It was broken.

It was _pleading_.

He was losing hold. It was slipping. There was nothing to grab onto.

Danny's eyes burned.

Tears slipped down his cheeks.

He tried to grab control, but he was chasing after a rope that's already fallen down the cliff.

He was done.

It was happening.

_He was changing back_.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Almost… there…" whispered Tucker, his fingers flying over the keys.

A monitor flashed with a pop up asking: DISABLE?

Tucker grinned.

_Enter_.

 


	10. Chapter 10

Everything, all at once, went black.

And just as it did, the light fizzled out of existence, leaving Danny black-haired and blue-eyed on the table.

"No!" screamed Agent E somewhere in the darkness. "What happened?!"

Danny blinked to the air, exhausted and beaten. His abdomen was on fire. His limbs felt numb. Unconsciousness pulled at him. Humanity came with heavy, exhausting weakness.

"The power's out!" said an agent's voice.

A gasp from Agent E.

"My god," she breathed. "Get it back on before he phases through!"

Danny blinked.

_Phases through...?_

The power.

Adrenaline broke through his stupor.

The power was off.

_The ghost-proof technology was off._

Danny went intangible.

He was still too weak and didn't get far. He fell through the table to the floor, landing with a crash and an explosion of pain. He groaned. His torso was on  _fire._

"Oh no you don't," came Agent E's growl. "Get him, now! And someone turn a damn light on!"

"But the lights won't work without the power..."

"Well  _get the power_!" she growled.

Danny pressed a shaking hand to his abdomen, only making it hurt a thousand times worse. His fingers came back sticky and wet, a mixture of the hot blood and icy ectoplasm. He blinked, but saw nothing but black in the windowless room.

_Get out, get out, get out_ _—_

He heaved out a breath, fighting the exhaustion until a hand closed around his ankle. He let out a surprised yell. He jerked back, trying to go intangible, but his strength was waning. He flickered out of stability, and he felt himself phase through the hand.

"Get back here, you _—_ "

Danny lashed out with a foot and was satisfied to hear a cry of pain as Agent E fell back. Behind him, a hand grabbed his shoulder through the darkness. Another snatched his leg.

Danny shut his eyes and went intangible again, groaning from the effort. He phased through the grips on him, falling through the floor, but halfway through the fall he went tangible again and crashed into the ground.

Pain  _exploded._

Danny blinked heavily. The agony, the  _exhaustion_  was paralyzing. Now human, he could feel the fractured ribs in his midsection, like knives beneath his skin. He was shaking hard. Sharp, jerky movements that he couldn't control made everything hurt more and a wounded cry escaped his lips. He couldn't move.

He laid there for a few seconds, breathing raggedly.

The cold, hard truth settled inside him.

He wouldn't be getting out of here.

_But he had been so close_.

That thought hurt, and Danny found himself coughing a laugh, despite himself. It was more of a grunt, and was quickly followed by a gasp, and it held no humor.

The GIW would find him eventually. They would restrain him again, and he wouldn't be able to stop them. His secret was held by a thread so thin a single breath would break it.

_But Tucker was safe_.

Danny smiled to the darkness, though it held a brokenness, a sadness, as the situation cut deeper into his heart.

He couldn't save himself this time.

But one more thought of Tucker, safe and free, and Danny closed his eyes, the smile returning to his lips, even when a hot tear trailed down his face.

* * *

Tucker grinned coldly at the monitors, the only thing in the building that were still on.

Time to find Danny.

Thanks to the glow of the machines, Tucker used it to light his way back to the hallway. Crashes, screams and commotion raged from outside the room and Tucker froze to a stop at the doorway.

_Ghosts._

At least two dozen ghosts were flying in every which way through the hallway, freed from their captivity, some cackling and screaming, throwing and breaking things _—_ _was that the Box Ghost?_ _—_ and Tucker froze for half a second, brows shooting up.

Okay, he didn't plan for  _that_  to happen, but it'll make what he has to do  _much_ easier.

The agents will be far too busy trying to recapture the ghosts to stop  _him_.

Using the glow from the ghosts to see, Tucker ran through the hallway, dodging them and doing his best to avoid getting blasted by ectoplasm.

There was a stairwell at the end of the hallway and he slammed the door open, flying down the steps. The door had a giant '3' on it. Dodging a ghost that almost knocked him over, Tucker kept on, wondering what floor Danny was-

As Tucker neared the door to the second floor, he could distinctly hear Agent E's screaming voice. "Someone find _—_ _ahh_!" Tucker felt for the door in the darkness and shoved it open.

In the glow of at least ten ghosts, Tucker watched as they sought revenge on their captors. Most of the agents were screaming, trying in vain to get away. Agent E was blasted into the wall and she growled aloud. "Someone get Phantom!" she growled. "He phased through the floor _—_ and  _turn the damn lights back on_!"

Through the floor.

_I'm coming, Danny._

Tucker turned and ran, fumbling to find the railing for the stairs. Every few seconds a ghost passed through and offered him a sliver of light, like lightning cracks in a storm.

Tucker hit the ground floor and darted forward, accidentally running  _into_  the door, and he ripped it open and ran.

"Danny!" he called into the empty hallway, his voice barely heard over the crashing and chaos on the second floor.

It was pitch black down here, and Tucker had to follow one of the walls to avoid running into anything. It was going to be  _impossible_  to find him.

"Danny!" he called anyway, stumbling as the wall he was following cut off into an open doorway. " _Danny_!"

"T-Tuck..?" came a small, surprised voice from inside the room, and Tucker's heart jumped in his throat.

"Danny!" cried Tucker with relief. He ran into the room, immediately running straight into a counter and winding himself but he didn't care. "Thank god," he breathed, relief so strong it filled his whole chest. "Where are you?"

"H-Here," came the weak reply.

"Where?" repeated Tucker, blinking rapidly, feeling around the counter to find his way through the room. "Can you make some light?"

A moment of silence, then _—_

Two startlingly green eyes flashed into the air a few feet away from him, and Tucker yelped aloud. He caught his breath, his heart pounding. He ran toward him. And if he wasn't so damn worried, those glowing green eyes would have been creepy as hell.

Danny was lying on the ground, his eyes only partly open. He groaned, doubling over and screwing his eyes shut, dousing them both in blackness again.

"Danny _—_!" cried Tucker in surprise, his hand finding Danny's shoulder and squeezing hard. Tucker jerked at the touch _—_ Danny was shaking, hard.

Fear coating his words, Tucker asked, "Are-are you okay? Danny?"

Danny didn't reply. And it took a long few seconds for Tucker to realize he  _couldn't._ Tucker put a hand on Danny's shoulder, realizing through the touch that Danny was back in his human form.

Not good.

Hearing the crashing from the ceiling become more chaotic, Tucker swallowed hard. "We have to get you out of here," he said. "Can you fly?"

Tucker heard Danny take a deep, shuddering breath, and his transformation rings snapped out, lighting the room in white like the flash from a camera, but they disappeared as quickly as they came and he cried out.

Danny sucked in a breath, gasping, "I-I c-can't _—_ " Another groan and he wrapped his arms around himself, the sound twisting Tucker's chest. Whatever Danny was trying to do wasn't helping alleviate his pain, and he cried out, his voice breaking off. Tucker's eyes burned just hearing it. "I-I can't _—_ " whispered Danny brokenly. A wounded sound escaped through his clenched teeth and Tucker squeezed his shoulder, feeling more helpless than ever.

But he  _wasn't_  helpless.

Something like a switch flipped inside Tucker, shoving his fear to the side.

"Don't worry, Danny," said Tucker firmly. "I'll get you out of here. I promise."

Quickly, and as carefully as he could, Tucker slipped an arm under Danny's knees and another around his back. With some difficulty, Tucker pulled his best friend to his chest, holding him tight-secure. Danny let out a cry as Tucker moved him, and Tucker's eyes burned as he whispered, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, hold on…" He made his way back out of the room, feeling something warm and wet soaking his shirt, and he realized it was blood.

Tucker swallowed hard.

_Really not good._

Danny was in bad shape.

_And he was in bad shape to start off with._

Tucker made his way through the hallway, having to stop more than once to avoid the ghosts still wreaking havoc through the building. More yells and crashes told him that the agents were taken care of upstairs and Tucker felt a small wave of relief.

He remembered being dragged down this hallway, so using the dim light the ghosts let off, he followed it to the door he'd come through hours earlier.

The door used power just like everything else in the building, and was sitting open before Tucker had even reached it. Chilled, fresh air seeped into the too-sterile building and Tucker smiled in relief.

He used his foot to open the door, holding tight to Danny as he ran outside.

_Freedom_.

Not just freedom.

_Light_.

The orange glow of the setting sun cast light over the wide openness around the GIW building.

Finally.

Tucker had to squint instantly, the dim lighting nearly blinding him after the total darkness.

The escaping ghosts were rushing off into the night overhead and Tucker had to duck to avoid getting run over. The yard of the compound was in disarray as the ghosts took vengeance on the barbed fence and vehicles in the parking lot, carving them a path out of this hellhole.

Tucker smiled as he ran, hindered slightly under Danny's weight. He looked down at Danny _—_

_—_ and nearly dropped him.

He looked  _horrible_.

Green and red blood coated his entire midsection, making it a muddled, brown-rust color. He was still shaking hard and his face was as pale as it was when he was in ghost form. His breathing was too fast and his face was drawn in harsh lines of pain.

"It's okay," said Tucker, mostly to himself. "It's okay, you're safe."

"'S over, Tuck," whispered Danny brokenly from Tucker's arms, and Tucker looked down mid-run.

"Yeah," he agreed heavily. "It's over."

"N-no," said Danny weakly.

Tucker slowed.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. He was just passing through the open gates to the compound. He jogged toward a cluster of trees partially hidden from view of the building, slowly leaning Danny against it. Danny cried out as he moved him and Tucker grabbed his shoulder, his chest hurting at the sound. "Danny," he repeated. "What are you talking about?"

"She knows," whispered Danny after he caught his breath.

Tucker hesitated, his chest tightening. "She, who? Knows what?"

"A-Agent E," gasped Danny, wincing harshly as a wave of pain rode through him. "Sh-she knows. 'Bout me."

Tucker's chest  _hurt_.

"She  _what_?" he asked. "What does she know about you?"

"Th-that I'm not a ghost," whispered Danny, his eyes cracking open, and looking at Tucker with a lost sort of fear that Tucker's never seen in him before.

Tucker's heart froze.

"B-But you're safe now," said Tucker hollowly. "We got away. We're okay."

Danny shook his head, then winced. "I bled." At Tucker's blank stare, Danny finished, "Blood. Not ectoplasm.  _Human_  blood. M-My DNA—" His voice cut off and he groaned, making Tucker tighten his hold on his shoulder. "It's there, Tuck," he whispered. "Once sh-she tests it, she'll know." He closed his eyes, looking exhausted. "They'll all know."

Tucker closed his eyes.

Danny was right.

If they knew...

Danny would never be safe.

Tucker let the hopelessness sink into his chest, into his veins, until _—_

Tucker opened his eyes.

"Danny," he said with forced courage. "I'm not going to let them hurt you anymore."

Danny cracked open his eyes. "T-Tuck-"

Tucker's eyes narrowed, something like  _courage_  sparking in them. "Stay here." He stood. "I'll be right back."

Danny blinked. Even in the broken state he was in, he caught the underlying tone in Tucker's voice. The finite sort of determination.

The kind of resolute courage Danny spoke with himself when he was going to do something very stupid and very brave.

Fear nearly sobered the pain.

Danny looked at him sharply. "Tuck, what're y-you _—_ "

Tucker smiled, but the smile held no joy. "I've got you, Danny. I'll take care of it."

Fear switched a flip inside him, and Danny jumped into action. His eyes opened wider and he looked a fraction more coherent. "Tucker, d-don't _—_ " He pushed himself off the tree, trying to stand, but his body refused to obey _—_ he was too spent. He fell to the ground, groaning through his teeth. He blinked through the blur and the stars, but it was too late.

Because Tucker was already gone.

* * *

Tucker ran.

He was thankful that the ghosts provided the distraction he desperately needed. He ran back into the building, following the wall when the blackness became total, and using the ghosts' light when he could.

He was going back to the server room.

Danny was right.

The GIW had everything they needed here to find Danny again and again.

He would never be safe.

Anger and courage burned through his veins like a foreign substance.

There was one thing he could do, one thing that would guarantee Danny's secret was kept. That Danny would be safe.

Tucker pushed himself to go faster, flying into the stairwell, taking the steps two at a time.

He was out of breath by the time he made it back to the server room. The same lights glowed and blinked back at him, the monitor reading: POWER DOWN just like earlier.

Tucker squared his shoulders.

He thought back to his PDA.

_You fry my technology, I'll fry yours_.

Tucker made his way back to the first monitor. He cracked the knuckles in his fingers.

He was going to override the system in a way it couldn't recover from.

It wouldn't just shut the power down.

If he was successful, it would overpower the circuits.

It would destroy itself.

_And every last trace of Danny inside it_.

Sweat dripped down his back and he started typing. He had a short window between killing it and avoiding it killing him in the process.

Tucker let out a heavy, finite breath.

But if it didn't go down, Danny would.

And that was all the convincing Tucker needed.

His fingers flew across the keys, pouring technologic poison into the system. After a few minutes it was working. It was confusing itself. The lights the room changed from green to red, and a buzzing _—_ a different kind of buzzing _—_ grew as it began to short out.

Tucker paused, staring at the screen, at the error messages growing and the screen stuttering.

_PROCEED?_

He smiled.

It was a smile that held sadness, resolution.

But one more thought of Danny, and the smile grew.

He closed his eyes.

_Enter_.


	11. Chapter 11

Danny breathed hard, everything on fire.

Worse than fire.

It was molten  _pain_  and it was too much.

_Tucker_.

He groaned.

Danny forced open his eyes, seeing the blurry figure of the building in the distance.

How long had Tucker been gone?

_What did he mean by taking care of it?_

And why had his voice turned suddenly calm?

Danny huffed out a breath, trying to fight the weakness, the pain. He pressed a shaking hand to the grass, trying to push himself up.

_Pain._

_PAIN._

Danny cried out, dropping back to the ground. A groan escaped clenched teeth and he hissed an expletive. He couldn't do this.

_Tucker…_

He forced his eyes open. Breathing raggedly, he tried again.

Danny was shaking too hard to hold himself off the ground. He held himself up on an elbow. Until…

"Agh _—_!" he cried, something hard slamming into his head. It hit the ground beside him and Danny looked down to see what—

It couldn't be.

"There he is!" cried a very,  _very_  familiar voice.

Danny's head snapped up.

"I told you it would find Tucker! If the GIW found him this way, so could we!"

They both stepped into blurry view then. Danny looked from the Boo-merang on the ground to Sam and Jazz's stunned expressions.

Sam dropped the gun she was holding. " _Danny_?!"

They both dropped to the ground and his side.

"What _—_ " Sam's face had gone ghost-white, taking in Danny's condition and the chaos of the GIW compound. "Danny, what _—_ you  _look—_ what on earth are you  _doing_  here?!"

"Y-You're supposed to be home!" growled Jazz, assessing his condition with growing concern. "Danny, what _—_ "

Danny ignored them both. "'m f-fine," he lied, still trying to get up. He felt Sam gently pushing him back down.

"Danny, you're…" She eyed the mess that was his torso with scared eyes. "This... isn't  _fine!_  What  _happened_?" asked Sam.

"P-Please," he gasped, losing what little strength he had left. "Tucker. H-He's still inside _—_ "

"He's where?" asked Jazz.

"Inside!" growled Danny impatiently. "He's still inside building! Y-You have to—"

But at that very moment, a loud buzzing alarm sounded from the building. Moments after, agents ran screaming from the building.

"Get out!"

"Everyone out!  _Now_!"

Like a white sea, agents ran out of the building, most of them half-beaten with torn clothing.

A moment's hesitation.

Then…

The building  _exploded_.

Danny froze, paralyzed.

The entire building was a fireball. Smoke plumed to the sky. Agents were sent flying to the ground from the wave of intense heat.

Danny stared, frozen beside Sam and Jazz in the same horror.

" _I've got you, Danny."_

" _I'll take care of it."_

He snapped out of it a second later.

_Tucker._

Danny jerked forward, but Sam still had a hold on him. She pulled him back. "Danny," Her voice sounded wet. "Danny, don't _—_ "

" _Tucker_!" he cried, his eyes burning with tears that fell. Another set of hands gripped his other arm that Danny realized were Jazz's but he fought them. He phased through their grips, and both girls jerked as they grasped only air and Danny fell back to his knees, his muscles too far gone to allow him to stand. He cried out from the pain, staggering back to the grass.

"Tucker," whispered Sam in a broken voice.

Danny stared. Everything was destroyed. The building was a charred pile of burning debris.

_My best—_

His chest constricted.

The fire reflected in his eyes.

_Tucker..._

"Woah."

All three of them whipped around.

Because standing behind them, watching the building burn with a sense of pride, was  _Tucker_.

Danny's eyes widened and he jerked back in surprise, shock flooding his system. " _Tuck—_?"

Tucker grinned, then took in Sam and Jazz. "Took you guys long enough for your daring rescue." He hesitated at their stunned silence. "I—wait, you thought I was in…" He looked at the building and winced.

Sam just grabbed the material of his shirt and yanked him down, hugging him. "Oh, my god. You're okay."

Danny was still in shock. He stared at Tucker, joy and relief and confusion in his chest. "B-But… how…?"

Tucker jabbed a thumb toward where an unfamiliar ghost was floating behind him. The ghost looked like he used to be a farmer in some old age. He tipped his hat to Tucker. "It was the least I could do, live one! Thanks for the help!" He then joined the rest of the ghosts, flying off into the blood red sky.

Danny blinked.

He was okay.

_Tucker was okay._

Danny looked blearily back at the burning building.

His DNA was incinerated.

He was  _safe_.

He looked back at Tucker, who was smiling at him.

Danny had the best damned friend in the whole world.

Relief washed through Danny's body like cold water and he blinked slowly, feeling suddenly a million times heavier. He started to fall back to the grass and felt Sam catch him gently.

"Let's get you guys out of here," said Sam, tightening her hold on Danny. "You… you don't look so good, Danny."

Danny nodded lazily, letting his head fall back on her lap.

"Danny?" asked Tucker from far, far away.

But Danny didn't hear him.

He finally, blissfully, passed out.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys SO MUCH for reading! I appreciate it so much and thanks as well for the kudos/bookmarks and especially the comments! They always make my day, so thank you!:)
> 
> Here's the last chapter! I hope you guys like it :D I'll definitely be writing more Danny Phantom fics in the future!
> 
> Until next time~
> 
> ~cosette141

"He's waking up!"

Pain made itself known before anything else, and Danny groaned. His torso was still a muted fire and a thick fog of heavy weakness pressed him down into something soft. Something familiar…

Danny cracked open his eyes.

He was staring at the ceiling of his bedroom. He blinked, trying to bring the memories that brought him here to his mind.

Four anxious faces were leaning over him.

Sam and Jazz, first, who both visibly relaxed when they saw him open his eyes.

"Danny!" said Sam softly, smiling.

"Hey, little brother," said Jazz from his other side.

Danny smiled tiredly back.

"Danny-boy!"

Danny jerked back a little, wincing. He lifted his eyes to the  _other_  two people leaning over him.

"Hey, Dad…" croaked Danny.

"Danny," said Maddie, on the other side of his bed, her voice stern. "Thank goodness you're okay." She rubbed his shoulder with her gloved hand. "But what were you thinking, going to the GIW's facility?"

_Tucker._

_The GIW._

_Agent E._

Danny's eyes shot wide.

_Where was…?_

"Tucker," he gasped, shooting off the bed, only to groan as his torso burned from the movement.

"Relax, Danny," said Sam, her hands on his shoulders, pushing him gently back down, concern in her eyes. "It's okay. Tucker's right here."

And Danny lifted his head slowly, finding Tucker leaning against the doorframe of his room. There was hardly any room around his bed for Tucker to stand. He was looking at Danny sheepishly.

Danny smiled at him, dropping his head back to the pillow in relief.

_Tucker was okay_.

"That was very dangerous, Daniel!" chastised Maddie, and Danny shrunk back a little into the pillows. "Tucker was being handled with extreme care," she went on, and it took every ounce of his self-control not to react to her choice of words, "so there was no need for you to go find him!" She shook her head, a little fear in her eyes. "When Sam and Jazz told me what happened…"

Danny looked tentatively to Sam for an explanation.

"...that," Sam took over, "you went to find Tucker. But the GIW had some power failure that destroyed the building."

Jazz nodded from Danny's other side. "And you were caught in the aftermath." She patted Danny's shoulder.

"But," said Tucker with a grin, stepping toward the bed. "Luckily not before the GIW saved me from evil Danny Phantom. I was released right before the whole thing went to shambles."

Danny sighed.

Not a bad story.

Jack let out a disappointed sound. "I still can't believe I missed watching them knock that ghost scum out of Tucker."

At everyone's stare, Jack smiled sheepishly at Tucker. "I mean… I'm glad you're ghost-free, now!"

Tucker looked at Danny when he answered. "Yeah… but… it wasn't so bad getting stuck with Danny Phantom."

Danny smiled at the honesty even when Jack scoffed and said, "Nonsense!"

"But you are  _grounded_ , young man." said Maddie firmly, rounding back on Danny.

Danny nodded. That was okay. He had a feeling he wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon.

"It really is too bad," added Maddie. "The GIW lost everything. They said it's going to take them months just to rebuild the structure." She shook her head. "But the research they must have lost…"

Danny had no such condolences.

And from the looks on Sam, Jazz and Tucker's faces, they didn't, either.

Jack rubbed the stubble on his chin. "Might take longer now that their head researcher was fired for going nuts."

Danny's face shifted in confusion.

Maddie shook her head. "Can you blame them? She was trying to convince everyone that Phantom was some sort of ghost-human anomaly!" She laughed a little, ruffling a very-rigid Danny's hair. "And that's just crazy."

Danny swallowed hard, feeling his fear snake back through his veins. He forced himself to nod.

Maddie's face softened as she ruffled Danny's hair gently. "I'm just glad you're okay, honey."

Danny smiled genuinely at her words. For a while there, he wasn't sure he'd get to see his parents again. Or if he  _did_  see them again, he wasn't sure he'd  _want_  to. Danny swallowed, looking from his mother to his father, glad beyond belief he was still just regular old Danny Fenton to them.

"We'll come back to check on you in a few hours," said Maddie, who leaned over and kissed Danny's hair. Danny winced at the affection— _in front of his friends_ —but smiled a little anyway. She and Jack left the room, and Tucker closed the door behind them.

"Danny are you okay?" asked Sam, her expression shifting in the instant the door shut.

"Do you feel alright?" asked Jazz on his other side.

"I'm okay," said Danny with a little laugh, though it made him wince. "Really, I'm okay. Thanks." He looked between the them. "How long have I been out?"

"Two days," said Tucker, and Danny's brows shot up.

" _Days_?!" he echoed.

Sam nodded. "After you passed out, Jazz drove us all back to my place so we could, well…" She hesitated, something dark passing through her eyes. "You were... kind of a mess. We didn't want to risk your parents seeing."

"But you were starting to heal normally from the new injuries," added Jazz, sitting on the bed beside Danny. "So all I really had to do was re-bandage the old one."

Danny nodded. "It doesn't hurt as much now." He smiled at them. "Thanks, guys."

Jazz gave him a little grin. "We told Mom and Dad that we took you to the hospital and they were the ones who patched you up, and also that they gave you a clean bill of health so that Mom and Dad didn't take you themselves."

Danny hadn't even thought of that. That would have been the worst stroke of bad luck.

His thoughts must have reflected a little in his eyes and Sam squeezed his shoulder. "Tucker told us about everything." Something dark passed through her eyes, but it went as quickly as it came. "I'm just so glad you guys are okay."

Danny gave her a grin, but it was tired. He blinked heavily, still feeling the exhaustion pulling at him.

Sam must have noticed because she said, "We should let you rest," and got up.

Jazz got up from the bed, too. "We'll be downstairs, little brother."

Jazz and Sam left, making Tucker look awkwardly between Danny and the door. He started to get up to leave.

"Tuck."

Tucker stopped, turning.

"I…" Danny hesitated, fighting with words. "I went in there to save  _you_ ," he said quietly, "and you ended up saving  _me_." He gave Tucker a sincere look. "Thank you, Tucker."

Tucker smiled a little back, saying, "It was nothing," but his eyes told a different story.

Danny's grin faded. He looked at Tucker seriously. "Are you okay?"

Tucker forced a grin. "Who, me? Yeah, totally okay."

Danny raised an eyebrow.

Tucker sighed, sitting on the end of the bed in a huff. "Okay, not exactly  _okay_. The kind of not-okay that's been giving me nightmares, and my hands won't stop shaking, but—" He stopped, looking up at Danny's concerned gaze. "Danny, why didn't you tell us?"

Danny's concern shifted into confusion. "Tell you what?"

"About… about all  _that_!" said Tucker, getting off the bed. "You…" He hesitated, looking at Danny. "That was…" Danny watched the memories replay in Tucker's eyes, and he shivered himself. "That was the scariest day of my life. I never even imagined what…" He looked at Danny, shaking his head in something between horror and awe. "You knew how bad it would be if the GIW caught you. You knew. You always knew." At Danny's uncomfortable silence, Tucker swallowed, his eyes shining with a trace of tears. "But you never…" He fell back to the bed again. "I never knew."

Danny—with difficulty—pulled himself up to a sitting position, cringing a little as it woke the pain in his abdomen. He put a hand on Tucker's shoulder. "I didn't want you guys to think about it." He shrugged a little. " _I_ didn't want to think about it. Most of all…" Guilt sank into his chest. "I didn't ever want you to get hurt."

"But what about  _you_?!" said Tucker in exasperation. "You flew straight into a place that nearly—" He couldn't get the words out, but Danny heard them nonetheless. He shivered a little, feeling himself back on the table, Agent E staring him down.

He pushed the emotion from his voice. "But I'm okay," he said with a grin that was almost real. "Don't worry about-"

"Stop it!" exclaimed Tucker, pushing himself off the bed again, making Danny recoil in surprise. "Stop… stop pretending everything is better than it is! Stop  _protecting_ me!" He heaved in air and Danny stared at him, stunned. "I was more scared that day than in my  _entire life_  and everything they did to me-or t-tried to… to do to me," His voice cracked a little, but he kept on. "That was meant for  _you_! They don't even treat you like a  _person_ , Danny!" He hesitated and Danny listened, shocked into silence. "I… you weren't the only one who could feel emotions when you overshadowed me, Danny." said Tucker firmly, making Danny tense. "You were scared. You were more than scared." Silence passed between them. He looked at Danny, with something between sadness and frustration.

Danny's eyes found the blanket. "Tuck-"

"How close was it?" demanded Tucker. "When I cut the power, when I found you, you weren't in ghost mode." A pause. "How close was it?"

Danny's eyes darkened.

_Agony._

_A flash of light._

_His control slipping through his fingers…_

_This is it._

Danny breathed out.

"Close," said Danny finally. He felt the memory tighten his chest again. "More than close," he whispered.

Tucker looked at him, his eyes shining. "I don't understand how you do this stuff." He sniffed. "I… couldn't."

Danny looked at him funny. "But you  _did_."

Tucker sighed. "That's just because… because… I couldn't let them hurt you," he said quietly.

Danny nodded. "Now you understand."

Tucker looked at him, seeing his best friend in a way he never had before. His best friend who risked his life by simply  _existing_ , who played with fate every time he tried to protect someone else.

"I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you." Danny shrugged. "You don't have to have ghost powers to be a hero, Tuck."

Tucker stared back at Danny, taking in the messy hair, the still-too-pale color in his face, the slight haggard look in his features. Behind that crooked grin on his face, Tucker could see the  _kid_ in who was sitting across from him. He could see past the mask that Danny must have always had up. He could see the  _fear_  he's never seen before.

Or maybe the fear that Danny hasn't  _let_  him see before.

Tucker put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "You protect me, I protect you."

Danny's smiled, the smile holding such sincere, raw  _gratitude_  it took him a second to speak. He cleared his throat a little and nodded. "Deal."

Tucker grinned back, feeling a resoluteness in the promise that passed between them.

Danny blinked tiredly again, and Tucker got up from the bed. "Get some sleep, dude. You look exhausted."

Danny nodded, leaning back to his pillows, and he must have been as exhausted as he looked because he fell asleep almost instantly.

Tucker started to leave, hesitating at the door, looking back at his best friend. The best friend he very nearly lost for good. The best friend, that by some miracle, Tucker was able to save.

" _You don't have to have ghost powers to be a hero."_

A warmth spread through him from the inside out.

Tucker started to turn when he saw an icy wisp of blue escape Danny's lips; his ghost sense.

Tucker looked around the room, but it remained silent.

A protectiveness rose in his chest.

He let go of the door handle and pulled out Danny's desk chair. He planted himself in it, watching the room attentively. He let Danny sleep.

Even heroes needed a hero sometimes.

Tucker watched over his best friend, smiling to himself, knowing that from now until the bitter end, he would be Danny's.


End file.
